


Pars Una

by Chibitami



Series: OP OC: Minerva [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit, Bickering, Complicated Relationships, Drinking, Drunken Flirting, Drunken Kissing, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Gen, Innuendo, Kidnapping, Misunderstandings, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), Premature Ejaculation, Rivalry, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:53:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 81,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22660549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibitami/pseuds/Chibitami
Summary: Somewhere in the West Blue, there lies a hidden kingdom surrounded by a thick veil of swirling fog. Those unlucky sailors who  manage to sail into these waters are never heard from again, lost forever in the mists of time. This lost kingdom, the land known as Romora, is a paradise that has been hidden from the rest of the world for nearly 1000 years. Its name has been mentioned in few historical texts, and after the destruction of the Library of Ohara, it's believed to simply be a myth like the legendary Skypeia--the stuff of fairy tales. But as many pirates have discovered for themselves on their adventure to become King of the Pirates, the truth is always stranger than fiction…
Relationships: Eustass Kid/Original Female Character(s)
Series: OP OC: Minerva [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654321
Comments: 25
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Underlined words in this fic indicate a footnote; just hover over the word/phrase to read them!

Minerva woke up to a gentle knock at her bedroom door. "Minnie, are you awake?" Her mother's voice was soft and a bit groggy, as if she had just woken up--or stayed up all night. "You have a bit of time left before you have to go out."

'Minnie' rubbed her eyes and peered through her curtains; the sun had just started to rise, shining through the clusters of trees and plants outside of the cottage. 

"Coming," she replied with a yawn. She rolled out of bed and opened the door to greet her mother with a hug. " **Good morning** ,Mater."

Her mother returned the hug and raised an eyebrow. " **Good morning?** " She narrowed her eyes and put a hand under her chin. "Wait, I think I know what this one means…" She concentrated and tried to translate the foreign phrase, and she snapped her fingers when she recognized it. "Aha! It's the Nocaligo way to say 'bonum mane'!" 

Minerva laughed and followed her mother into the kitchen. "I guess Papa's lessons are finally rubbing off on you," she said with a grin. "It only took what, 20 years?" She saw that the kitchen table was already set and that her mother had prepared breakfast for the two of them: homemade bread with olive oil drizzled over it, and a bit of smoked fish wrapped in greens on the side.

Her mother rolled her eyes and poured a cup of tea for her daughter. "You know linguistics isn't my strong suit," she said with a grin. "But when it comes to analyzing plant samples and mind maps, he's practically illiterate. So I think we're even." She was quiet for a moment. "He called me on the Recens a while ago," she said, cocking her head at the small Communication Snail resting on the kitchen counter behind a small gold plate, about the size of a thimble. The snail blinked drowsily and noticed the food on the table, and licked its lips. When Minerva's mother noticed it staring eagerly at the food, she put a hand over her mouth. "Oh stars, I forgot to give you an offering!" She cut up a small piece of letuce and placed it on the plate in front of the snail. It immediately gobbled up the offering and cooed with pleasure as Minerva's mother gently stroked its head. ""Bene facis"," she said sweetly. "Our beloved little messenger of Mercury."

She went back to the counter and handed her daughter the full cup of tea before sitting down. "I don't know why he thinks they'll agree this time to let you leave."

Minerva shifted in her seat and sipped her tea. "The odds are...slim," she conceded, "But now that I'm 20, we have a stronger case. I'm not a child anymore and I'm allowed to petition for my own cases according to Imperial law, so the Senators can't just waive his petition by saying I'm too young and pointing out the same statute ad nauseam. Besides, I can finally speak on my own behalf as an adult! And…" She sighed. "I don't want to insult Papa, but I think I'm more suited to Imperial debate than him. If I'm the one speaking, I think we'll have a better chance." Her father was a brilliant man, and widely regarded as one of the best linguistic historians in the kingdom. Still, he was an introverted and soft-spoken man, more suited to libraries and classrooms than the Senate floor. While Minerva had inherited her father's quiet nature, she had been practicing her persuasive skills ever since she was able to talk. She enjoyed spending her free time speaking with the academics on the island, and to this day the scholars in town affectionately called her "paula collegama".

Her mother sipped her own cup of tea and smiled. "Have you decided what essays you wanted to bring?"

Minerva nodded and ate a few bites of her breakfast. "I stayed up all night reviewing the best ones," she said. "I was _going_ to bring all of them, but I decided against it; over the years, I started to reuse and regurgitate the same points over and over. I don't want to seem redundant." She stared down at her cup of tea with a slightly nostalgic smile. When she was a child, she was so eager to be given permission to explore beyond the kingdom that she had started to write persuasive essays to convince the Senate that she was capable of defending herself. Over the years she had compiled a large stack of essays citing dozens of renowned Romoran philosophers, generals, Emperors, and historians that supported her claims that she should be able to legally leave the island.

Her mother gently reached out to hold Minerva's hand. "Once you reach the city, make sure to call me," she said. Minerva opened her mouth to insist that she would be fine, that she had sailed around the kingdom countless times by herself, but her mother immediately shushed her. "Regardless of probability, I won't be able to relax until I know you're safe." She smiled and tapped her head. "Ceres blesses mothers with many things, but she also curses us in a few ways. The moment our children are out of our sight, she gently pokes our amygdala and hippocampus." She squeezed her daughter's hand. "And until they're back in our arms, she makes us shiver and shake and worry."

Minerva smirked and squeezed her mother's hand in return. They ate together in silence for a while until Minerva's mother glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "You should get dressed," she said, drinking the last sips of her tea before taking their dishes to the sink. "You can wear whatever you like on the trip to Imperio, but please make sure you pack your formal robes; I didn't spend all day yesterday cleaning and anointing them just for the waves to ruin them!"

Minerva sighed and crossed her arms. Formal robes had their charm, she supposed, but it didn't justify how impractical they were; how was she supposed to think properly if all she could focus on was how not to trip on her own sandals while walking? "I don't have to wear any jewelry, do I?" 

Her mother shook her head and chuckled when her daughter let out a relieved exhale. "Hmm…maybe if you wore enough gold and silver, the light shining off of you would disorient the Senators and keep them from concentrating on how to counter your arguments. What do you think?" She gave her daughter a teasing smile. 

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "I think that I can 'dazzle' them enough with my arguments," she said in a deadpan voice. "Besides, the only people who deck themselves out in finery like that are the ones who are insecure about their status and want to desperately be recognized." She went to her room and changed into a simple traveling tunic and sandals. "And thanks to my Fructeus, I already get enough recognition...and unwanted attention."

Her mother called to her through the door. "Before you go, make sure to leave an offering to Aequivoca. And bring your scarf!" 

Minnie grabbed a small wine-colored cloth on the altar. The smell of incense and scented oils immediately gave her a sense of comfort, and she used it to tie her hair into a ponytail. She took one of her old essays off of her desk and carefully folded it, muttering a small prayer to the goddess of wisdom. "Goddess Minerva, meus magister, meus protector, mea aequivoca." She placed the paper on a small altar in her room and then grabbed the folder containing her selected essays to put it into a knapsack. "I can convince them," she said firmly. "I've spent years preparing for today. I can do this." Her eyes wandered to the floorboards underneath her bed. "But if I can't…" She took a deep breath. "I'll just move to Plan B." 

She placed her formal robes into her knapsack as well before heading out to give her mother one last hug before leaving the house. As she walked down the familiar path through the forest to the beach, her steps were confident and her head was held high. Whatever happened today, she was determined to achieve her freedom.


	2. Chapter 2

Minerva made her way to the far end of the beach to reach the island's dock. She followed the familiar path through the sand, seeing just a few fishermen and priests scattered across the shoreline. An older man was kneeling on the dock, holding a small metal tube with a glass bulb at the end with one hand. Next to him was a rusted box filled with different tools. He cursed and grumbled as he tried jostling the tube and repeatedly pressing a small button at the end opposite the bulb. He heard Minerva's footsteps and turned to see who could be sailing out at this hour. 

"Ave, Minerva," he muttered with a small wave. "Say, could you give me a hand?" He held up the metal device. "My parvumen's just blown a fuse."

Minerva peered down at the damaged flashlight. "Ave, Claudius," she replied. "I could try, but circuitry isn't my strong suit…"

"Ah, pish-posh," Claudius said dismissively. "That Fructeus of yours can create electricity, can't it? I'll just take the bulb out and you can replace the wire in here."

Minerva was taken aback. "I can use electrical charges, but only with my Axon Whip," she corrected. "Do you really want a large-scale piece of brain matter in your parvumen? It could overload and shatter the bulb, and you'll be in the same place you started--in the dark." She crossed her arms. "The sun's starting to rise; just wait for the sky to get a bit brighter and you'll have no need for the parvumen to see what you're fixing." She squinted and peered down at the dock where Claudius was kneeling. "What _are_ you fixing, exactly?"

Claudius pointed at a small device that bolted to the top of one of the wooden posts along the dock. A small metal needle was wildly swinging back and forth in front of a multicolored background of bars: blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. "The damn Mist reader's been malfunctioning for the past week or so," he replied irritably. "A new one's supposed to be coming in a few weeks, but in the meantime, I have to recalibrate this one by hand every morning." He sighed and slowly rose up. "I come out here before the ship traffic gets too heavy and the dock gets crowded." He furrowed his brow. "Speaking of ships, where are you headed? It's a good day for sailing; the weather Oracles say the sky'll be clear and that there's barely any Wisps on the water here today." He looked out at the ocean and stroked his beard. "Might spend my lunch break out there, actually. Heh. Just me, my food, and one of my new books…" 

Minerva readjusted the strap on her rucksack. "I'm headed to Imperio," she replied with a small smile. "I'm finally old enough to speak to the Senate on my own behalf, and I'm meeting with my father so the two of us can make our case."

Claudio raised one of his greyed, bushy eyebrows. "Twenty already? Ha, I guess Virgil was right--Tempus fugit!" He laughed. "I still remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. It was all that anyone could talk about for years, you know."

Minerva nodded and she was grateful that the dim morning light kept Claudius from seeing her roll her eyes a bit. Of course she knew, she heard this story of her birth a thousand times from practically everyone on the Austellus! She had been born during the last day of Quinquatria, a Romoran holiday celebrating the goddess of wisdom. Her mother had just finished uttering a small prayer of thanks to Minerva, and the moment she took her first bite of food at the feast, she went into labor. This came as a shock, considering she still had a few weeks left of her pregnancy. The island's doctors rushed to her aid and the local priests theorized that this child was a gift from Minerva herself. The high priestess of the goddess's temple personally attended the birth to serve as midwife, and her proteges weaved a blanket made of sacred cloth from the temple's loom for the child. When the townspeople heard that the baby was born, the entire island erupted into cheers and the celebration of the goddess was even more jubilant than before as the revelers sang and danced into the night.

"Well, I bet you'll convince the Senators this time," Claudius said with a shrug. "You've got your namesake's sharp mind, and a tongue that's just as quick." He chuckled as he thought of the countless times he had seen her in the town square through the years, debating the various scholars and eagerly scribbling notes into her little leather-bound notebooks as she attended the various open classes that professors held. 

Minerva made her way to the family's boat on the other side of the dock. "I'll make sure to put her gifts to good use," she replied with a wave. "Good luck with the repairs!"

Claudius waved back and went back to fiddling with his flashlight. "Keep an eye out for Wisps out there," he warned. "There may not be any out here today, but they might be out there once you leave the coast!"

Minerva carefully stepped onto the wooden boat. It was a standard Romoran vessel, meant for (somewhat) comfortable travel around the kingdom. There was a second level to the to it, made accessible by a sliding hatch near the mast; while it was technically meant for storage, plenty of fishermen and insomniac sailors used it as a surprisingly cozy sleeping area when they were out at night and couldn't feasibly make their way to a nearby island to rest. The bottom of the boat was lined with a beautiful iridescent stone that the Romorans called "Prisma", which was especially plentiful on the northern island of Serpentrio; Minerva's mother once explained to her as a child that this stone was able to deter Sea Kings and prevent them from attacking the boat. The sail was white with a dark green geometric border, signifying that it was owned by a citizen of Austellus, the south island of Romora. 

Minerva unfurled the sail before untying the rope that tethered it to the dock. She set out and sailed north, checking and double-checking her route by looking up at the compass built into the mast of the ship. 

The sun slowly rose and Minerva looked at the hazy wall of Mist that stretched across the horizon in every direction. Even to a native like her, who had been taught to navigate the kingdom's waters since she was a child, it was still a bit disorienting if she stared too long. The origin of the Mist obscuring Romora from the outside world was still a mystery after all these years, with various meteorologists, physicists, priests, philosophers, and politicians all having their own theories as to exactly how and why it existed. As to what lied beyond it, nobody had enough evidence to put forth a meaningful theory; Romorans enjoyed coming up with ideas, but they wouldn't have any weight or support if they couldn't be proven somehow. Minerva wistfully looked out at the horizon. When--not _if_ \--she left the island, she would find out for herself what the world was like beyond the Mist.

As she sailed towards Imperio, she noticed a few more ships traveling across the waters: fishermen in canoes catching their first haul of the day, Neptunian priests and priestesses on their large flat-boats holding their morning sermons out on the water, soldier recruits rowing and swimming laps as part of their morning exercises. 

As she got closer and closer to the shores of Imperio, she noticed that the dial on the Mist Reader underneath the ship's compass had begun to slowly shift to the right. A few thin translucent clouds of Mist, blown by the morning breeze, were approaching the ship. Minerva veered slightly off-course to avoid the Wisp, but a few lingering tendrils managed to pass by her as she steered out of their path. Her eyes felt slightly heavy and she heard a series of faint whispers in her mind, barely audible but still present. She knew better than to focus on what words were drifting in her mind, and risk falling off of the boat and into the water. She took a deep breath and forced herself to focus, gripping the mast of the ship and trying to keep herself mentally grounded. _Think of three things you can feel...the wood of the mast against my fingers, the leather soles of my sandals and…the sleeves of my tunic, brushing up against my skin._ After a few seconds, the Wisp had passed by her and the voices faded away. The needle on the Mist reader slowly went back to the green area of the dial. Minerva slowly relaxed her shoulders and exhaled.

After an hour or so of sailing (and avoiding a few more stray Wisps), Minerva had arrived at the shores of Imperio. Even from hundreds of yards away, she could see the white marble of the capital city's buildings amidst the greenery on the island. A city guard waved her over to a free area of the dock, pointing in the direction she needed to sail with his sword. After she'd docked and stepped off of the boat, she made her way amidst the throng of people milling about the dock to a guard standing at attention near the city gates. "Excuse me," she said to him, "Could you give me directions to the disputandum for Imperial petitioners?"

The soldier nodded. "Make your way through the path ahead and turn right to enter the textile market." He pointed at the large stone path in front of them. "Once you're there, keep walking straight and you'll be in the city square. It shouldn't be hard to tell when you're there--the fountain in the centre square is... _very_ noticeable.The Disputandum Imperio will be the large three-story building directly northwest from where you'll have entered." 

Minerva nodded and quickly memorized the directions he had given her. "Gratias," she replied. The soldier gave her a stiff nod in return, and she quickly made her way down the stone path to the city square. The streets of the textile market were filled with craftsmen proudly showing their wares to various customers, weavers creating bolts of cloth on different blooms, and artists creating silken murals and selling bottles of dye from their booths. The smell of the goods being sold at the nearby farmer's market and wine stalls lingered in the air, mixed with the lingering scent of incense that trailed down from the various temples on the island and random apartments a few stories above the shops as people prayed. She noticed something else as she followed the path--a large booth with a public-use Recens sitting on a built-in shelf inside the booth. She shuffled over to the Recens booth and noticed a small sign written in front of the door: 

**Cost**

**Courtesy calls (max. 2 minutes): free**

**Additional time: 5 Denaari per minute**

Minerva dialed her mother's Recen, and she picked up after a few rings. "Minnie?" Her voice crackled from the snail's mouth. "Is that you?"

"Yes," Minerva replied. "I'm on my way to the Disputandum now. Just wanted to call you so that you wouldn't worry about me, even if it's purely unnecessary."

Her mother chuckled. "Well, thank you anyway," she replied. "Good luck, dear--I know you don't need it, but still…"

Minerva smiled. "Thank you, Mama." She ended the call and gently scratched under the communication snail's chin. "And thank you," she said to it with a small smile. The Recens smiled back at her and affectionately rubbed one of its closed eyeballs against her hand.

Minerva left the Recens booth to make her way through the crowd and after a few minutes of walking, saw the large fountain that stood in the center of the city. While Minerva had seen it before when her parents took her on vacations and various trips to Imperio as a child, it never failed to impress her. The aqueducts that ran through the city streets all converged at the exact spot where the fountain stood, and the entire structure was made of Prifma stone. The fountain was intricately carved in the shape of an eagle, with its wings spread out as if it were soaring through the air. Multiple jets of water arced over the eagle, and the mist that they created left a permanent faint rainbow around the eagle that was visible whenever it was sunny outside. 

Minerva admired the statue for a moment before making her way to the building that the guard had described. She climbed the steps leading to the main entrance, where a few well-dressed officials in dark blue robes were standing and holding sheafs of paper. She approached one of them, an older woman with circular spectacles and a kind smile, and gave a small bow of greeting. "Ave," she greeted. "I have an appointment at 10:30 for an Imperial hearing."

The old woman nodded and adjusted her glasses before peering down at the stacks of paper. "Your name, dear?"

"Minerva D. Colossa," she replied. 

The old woman flipped through a few sheets and nodded. "Your hearing will be held on the second floor, in Chamber 27," she said. She took a stylus out from a pocket in her robes and quickly scribbled something, and then pointed towards a nearby staircase. "Just follow those steps and turn left, and it'll be on the right side of the hallway." 

Minerva nodded and headed up the stairs, and found herself alone in a large white hallway. Not wanting to waste time looking for a room to change her clothes in, she slipped her rucksack off of her shoulders and took out the formal robes she had begrudgingly packed. She carefully pulled them over her head and felt the delicate silk of the dress billow at her feet as she shuffled in place and moved her head through the top. She heard a pair of footsteps behind her, followed by a small sound of surprise.

"Ma'am, this is a _public_ hallway," a man said with a disapproving tone in his voice. "Please find a private place to undress, or I'll have to issue you a citation for indecent exposure."

Minerva managed to find the dress's collar and looked up to see an Imperial guard looking at her with wide eyes and a pink tinge to his cheeks. She narrowed her eyes and frowned. "I wasn't _un_ dressing," she replied irritably, adjusting the hem of the dress and holding the long skirt up enough for her to see her feet. "I simply put this on over my clothes. How could I be able to expose any supposedly indecent part of my body if none of it was bare in the first place?"

The guard shifted uncomfortably. "My apologies," he replied. "I'm just used to stumbling across various...er...meritrices...freely changing their robes before and after their trials here before going back to work." He stood awkwardly for a moment. "If you like, I could make up for my false assumption by escorting you to where you need to go."

Minerva nodded and took a few tentative steps, clearly out of her element while wearing her robes. "I would appreciate that," she replied. "Considering I feel as if I'm about to fall flat on my face at any second in this dress…" 

The guard gently took her by the arm and after hearing what room she was looking for, he slowly guided her to Chamber 27. He held the door open for her, and she gave him a short nod as a thank-you. The guard hurriedly took his place on the debate floor and nervously pulled at the sleeves of his tunic before saluting the Senators and standing at attention. As Minerva entered the room, she noticed three Senators wearing dark purple robes and golden laurels sitting behind a large curved desk that was slightly elevated. At the far end of the room, a young man was sitting at his own desk with a typewriter and a few random papers. A podium stood in the center of the room, and she saw her father standing nervously behind it. The guard that had escorted her, along with another soldier, stood at attention on either side of the poem. When Minerva’s father turned to see who had entered the room, a relieved smile spread across his face. He hurriedly walked to her and gave her a small, warm hug. 

"There you are, Minnie," he said with a sigh of relief. 

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Were you not expecting me to come?"

Her father shook his head. "Oh, well, of course I did," he said hastily. "It's just that I had overheard some of the ship workers by the dock mentioning that there were quite a few Wisps floating around between here and home, and…" He ran a hand through his sandy colored (with a few flecks of silver) hair. "I was worried that it might keep you from getting here on time." He glanced at the men and women at the other end of the room. "I didn't want to have to start without you. After all, it's my first time being second-chair for one of these hearings; I already know what the verdict will be if I'm the only one speaking." He let out a small, nervous laugh and fidgeted with a leather bracelet on his hand. "You know how I am when it comes to debates like this…"

Minerva smiled and followed her father to the podium, and set her rucksack down on the ground at her feet. "Don't worry, Papa," she said warmly. "I've been waiting for this day for over a decade; I wouldn't have missed this for the world." She smirked. "After all, I'm doing this so I can _see_ the world." 

Her father chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ready to start?" She smiled and nodded firmly, and he gently squeezed her shoulder as a small sign of support. A few moments later, a bell rang and the guards turned to salute the councillors. The hearing had officially begun.

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

The secretary at the typewriter cleared his throat. “Will the primary petitioner state their name for the record?” His small, timid voice echoed off of the marble walls of the room.

Minerva felt the corners of her lips turn up; it was a bit silly out-of-context to be excited to call yourself a primary petitioner, but she'd been waiting to do this for her entire life. “Minerva D. Colossa," she said proudly. "Daughter of Corona D. Colossa and Aurelius Colossa.” 

The secretary typed away and one of the Senators, a red-haired woman with dark eyes spoke up. “This is your first time meeting with us directly, yes?” She smiled. “We’ve gotten accustomed to your parents’ yearly visits and seeing photos of you in your file, but we’ve always wondered what you looked like in the flesh. ” A few of the Senators chuckled. 

Minerva smiled brightly.“I hope I can measure up to your expectations,” she replied. 

The red-haired senator folded her hands and glanced at a piece of paper in front of her. “According to your most-recent petition,” she began, “You are once-again requesting Imperial permission to leave the borders of Romora. Is this correct?" She peered down at the official application. "Hmm, the wording on this one seems a bit different compared to the others."

"In my past petitions, I have requested that any Imperial decree would be put in effect after my 20th birthday," Minerva explained. "Because I had turned 20 when I drafted this request a few months ago, I omitted that clause now that I'm able to petition you on my own behalf. I believe that it would be beneficial not just for myself, but for the interests of the entire kingdom, to explore the areas beyond Romora." 

She cleared her throat and folded her hands. "One of the pillars of our society is the ideal of 'scientia regnat’; the pursuit of cultivating and curating knowledge is arguably our defining cultural characteristic.” She reached into her rucksack and produced her stack of essays. “Because we’ve been isolated from the outside world for so long, our store of knowledge may be outdated and largely incomplete. It’s very likely that various countries and kingdoms outside of Romora have evolved over the years and discovered, created, or improved in ways we can’t confirm until we explore the outside world.” 

She held up her stack of papers. “I’ve spent the past eight years poring through multiple subjects that are very likely out of date within our archives. For example, my father is a linguist that is completely fluent--at least by Romoran standards--in Nocaligo, the most common language spoken outside of Romora.” She looked at her father with a small smile, and he nodded bashfully. “But language is a constantly-evolving field of study; even Romoran, which has been the only language spoken in our kingdom for hundreds of years, has evolved significantly. The Nocaligo language has likely evolved so much within our period of isolation that all linguists, historians, and anthropologists have outdated sources. I said that Nocaligo is the most common language spoken outside of Romora, but we don’t even know if this is true anymore.”

Another Senator, a bald man with a curled beard, spoke to one of the soldiers by the podium. “Guard, could you bring these papers to our desk?” One of the soldiers carried Minerva’s essays up to the Senators, and they briefly read through some of them. The bald Senator stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Could you provide some additional examples of ways in which our knowledge could be outdated? Foreign linguistics, while an… _interesting_ field of study, is simply not a core field within our society that would warrant an expedition to update its store of knowledge.”

Minerva continued, eagerly awaiting a question like this. “Gladly, Senator,” she replied. “The technology used to maintain our kingdom’s infrastructure could also be outdated compared to other societies. The kingdom is powered by a combination of solar panels and wind-powered turbines, but there could be a more efficient source of power that we have yet to discover. Just by discovering _one_ potential new resource, we could vastly improve the entire kingdom by altering or updating our generators.”

“But this is hypothetical,” the Senator replied. “There _could_ be technology outside of Romora that is more effective, but we have no way of knowing this.”

A blonde male Senator nodded. “Given the risk involved with sailing through the Mist, we can’t justify sending a citizen, potentially to their death, on the basis of a _potential_ benefit to the kingdom. If there were more concrete evidence, then I would be more inclined to grant you permission to leave the kingdom.”

“I understand the risk involved with sailing through the Mist,” Minerva replied coolly. “And I would take full responsibility for the results of my actions. I’m willing to sign an Imperial waiver that would prevent my family from finding the Senate responsible or culpable in the event of my death, if that is what it takes for me to be given permission to leave.”

“But this is simply more than a matter of legal liability,” the blonde Senator countered. “You have a Fructeus, which makes you a valuable asset of the kingdom. It would be a waste of life to send you into a situation where you’re likely to die.”

The female red-headed Senator spoke again. “Speaking of your Fructeus,” she added, “Your file provides a short description of your abilities, but I’d like to hear your explanation of what it can do. I would be more comfortable weighing your worth as a Fructeus-user to the kingdom, as well as how competently you’re able to use it, if I fully understood its abilities and limits.” The other Senators nodded in agreement.

Minerva nodded. “My Fructeus allows me to control, manipulate, and remove the brain function of someone as long as I am physically touching their head. I’m also able to observe the brains of everyone around me within a certain radius, using a technique that’s simply called ‘Brain Scan’. I can also create a large-scale copy of my brain’s axons and neurons and use it as a weapon that I call the Axon Whip.” She held up one of her hands and a thick, fleshy and nearly transparent chain began to sprout from her palm; the links of the chain were connected with glowing ligaments that sparked with a small electrical current that made Minerva’s hair stand slightly on end. The Senators watched with wide eyes as Minerva held up the “whip” for them to see clearly. 

“The whip has many different functions,” she explained. “I can ‘snap’ it in order to create a projectile bolt of electricity using the large neurons in between the axons; If I strike someone with it, or wrap it around them, the electrical charge is strong enough to paralyze them for a short period.” She smiled. “And, if need be, I can simply use it as a rope or tether.”

The bearded Senator stroked his beard in order to smooth down the hairs that had begun to stand up. “Do you have any defensive abilities?”

Minerva nodded and retracted the Axon Whip; it slithered back into her palm and was replaced by a translucent bubble that began to grow from her hand until it was the size of a small shield that covered her body. “I can create barriers made from myelin,” she explained. “Typically, myelin coats and protects the axons in a person’s brain; by using it on a large scale, I’m able to use it to protect myself from physical attacks.” She made the shield a bit bigger and it billowed as if it were made of cloth. “I can adjust the flexibility of the myelin, and it can be used as an effective parachute. And if I create enough layers of hard myelin, I can use it as a crude flotation device...for a short while.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Myelin is naturally soluble in water, so I need multiple rigid layers of it to stay afloat for longer periods.” She concentrated for a moment and the bubble became more stiff and opaque, and she tapped it against the marble floor.

The Senators murmured to each other. The redheaded Senator seemed especially impressed, and she leaned over the desk to get a closer look at Minerva’s shield. “How interesting...I haven’t personally seen someone use a Fructeus,” she mused. “ _Very_ interesting…” She sank back into her chair and cleared her throat. “Have you ever tested its durability?”

Minerva smiled. “I’ve been testing the limits of my Fructeus ever since I first received it,” she replied. She bounced the Myelin shield against the floor again, and it gently made a small repeated _clack_ against the marble. “At its hardest, it can withstand an average of fifteen direct slashes and strikes from a broadsword before it starts to fracture; if someone trained in Telum Deos attacks it, it can remain stable for roughly five hits.” She glanced at the guards on either side of her podium. “If you would like, I could demonstrate this for you now.”

The guards looked at each other uncomfortably as the Senators seemed interested in her demonstration. The red-haired Senator nodded eagerly and gestured towards the guard that had escorted Minerva. “Antonius, you’ve got some experience using Telum Deos; would you please assist Miss Colossa?” The young guard nodded and awkwardly stepped forward. Minerva took a few steps around the podium, and out of the corner of her eye she saw her father try to reach out to her. 

“I’ll be fine, Papa,” she said quietly. 

Aurelius shifted uncomfortably, clearly nervous about watching a trained soldier raise a sword against his child; he nodded and gave his daughter a small smile. “I know,” he replied. “Just...be careful, dear.”

Minerva increased the size of her Myelin Shield and held it in front of her towards Antonius. “Attack me,” she said firmly. “And don’t hold back.”

Antonius, clearly unused to raising his weapon against a civilian, glanced at the Senators for approval. The red-haired Senator nodded imploringly, and Antonius looked back at Minerva. He took a deep breath and unsheathed his gladius, clenching his fist as a metallic armor formed around his hand and the blade of his sword. He rushed at Minerva, who didn’t flinch or blink as he struck her shield. His blade collided with the hardened myelin with a loud clang, but the shield remained stable. 

Minerva nodded towards Antonius. “Again,” she said. “Keep attacking until the shield wears down. I need to prove that it’s durable.”

Antonius struck the shield again. _Clang._ No effect. The bald Senator raised his eyebrows and the others watched intently as Antonius tried to destroy the shield again. _Clang. Clang. Clang._ Minerva took a step back to keep her balance (a difficult task in her formal wear), and Antonius thrusted his sword forward with all of his might with a loud grunt. **_Clang!_ **

The shield cracked slightly, but the sudden change in force caused Minerva to stumble backwards. Her father inhaled sharply as she tripped on her robes, and when she managed to catch herself before hitting the floor he let out a small exhale. Antonius quickly sheathed his sword and moved to help her up. “Are you alright? I didn’t realize how hard I--” Minerva held her hand up and shook her head as she slowly stood back up.

“No need to apologize,” she said stiffly. She glared at the hem of her dress and pulled it up as she made the shield disappear. “The blame lies with me.” _And whoever insisted that female citizens wear these damned formal robes to Imperial gatherings!_ She shuffled back to her spot behind the podium and looked up to gauge the Senators’ reactions. The bald Senator was frowning and thoughtfully stroking his beard, while the blond one was glaring disapprovingly at Antonius, apparently upset with how forcefully the guard had attacked Minerva (despite her insistence that he do so). The red-haired Senator, on the other hand, was eagerly scribbling notes about Minerva’s Fructeus with wide eyes. _Well, at least she’s interested..._

Minerva tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Ideally, I wouldn’t be fighting anyone while wearing such cumbersome robes,” she said awkwardly. “But as you can see, I’m more than capable of defending myself using my Fructeus.”

The blond Senator crossed his arms and looked down at her. “Let’s move on from the subject of _physical_ attacks,” he said hastily, with another quick glare at Antonius. Antonius stiffened and hung his head in shame. “In order for you to leave the kingdom, you’d need to be able to withstand the Mist for a prolonged period. Not only that, but you would be traveling through the highest concentrations of Mist; the visions have driven many people mad before, and the ones who aren’t lucky enough to simply fall off of their vessel and drown are rarely seen again.” He looked at her with genuine concern. “Do you have _any_ methods of protection in mind?”

Minerva raised an eyebrow at how he worded his question. _I’ve been preparing for this journey my entire life,_ she thought irritably. _Does he really think I would waste my own time and the time of the Senate if I didn’t have a plan?_ “I assure you, I am not underestimating the power and danger of the Mist,” she replied. “In fact, I’ve come up with my own precaution to guard against it.” She glanced at her father out of the corner of her eye for a moment; she was about to admit something that...while not _illegal_ , was something a bit taboo. “Shortly after my tenth birthday, I began taking multiple trips by boat to the farthest edges of the kingdom off the coast of my island in order to expose myself to the Mist for short periods of time.” Her father’s eyes widened; he’d never known about these secret trips.

The Senators stared down at her in surprise. “You’ve been exposing yourself to the Mist?” the bald Senator said incredulously. “Have you ever received _any_ kind of training to work with such a volatile entity? And you started doing this as...as a child? The Oracles train for years in order to expose themselves to it for prolonged periods, and not only are they adults, but are required to restrict their exposure! Are you--”

“I have never been _allowed_ to receive training,” Minerva retorted, crossing her arms. “Because I carry the letter D in my name, every Oracle I’ve spoken to has been so worried about what prolonged exposure to the Mist would do to me that they refuse to let me join their temple. I understand that those with this D. are sensitive to the Mist’s side effects, but the only way for me to even _attempt_ to build a tolerance to it would be to slowly expose myself to it over time.”

“Regardless of such a reckless action,” the red-haired Senator said, quickly cutting off the bald man as he was about to speak, “Do you know if your exposure to the Mist has actually increased your tolerance to its effects?”

Minerva looked up at the Senator. “I’ve found that I can stay in moderately dense areas of Mist for...for five to seven minutes before feeling the usual side effects.” She counted off on her fingers. “Vertigo, dizziness, migraines...When I first started training at age ten, I could only stay in these same areas for fifteen to thirty seconds.”

The blond Senator shook his head. “Moderately dense areas,” he muttered. “Miss Colossa, we aren’t talking about you sailing through moderately dense areas. You would be sailing through the thickest area of Mist in the kingdom--in the entire world! If you could only last five to seven minutes in moderate conditions, your chances of surviving the outer wall is incredibly slim. I can’t think of any way we could justify granting you permission to leave the island, especially as someone with a Fructeus.” He sighed. “You were granted a gift by the gods themselves. Would you really waste that gift following such a futile endeavor?”

Minerva’s gaze hardened. “I believe that staying here, in a kingdom that will inevitably stagnate, would be a waste,” she said firmly. “I want to use this gift to explore beyond the limits of our kingdom, to bring back new technologies, new research, new _knowledge_. How can we take pride in our research if we have no means of updating it?”

The bald Senator frowned. “I appreciate your dedication to validating the kingdom’s research,” he said begrudgingly, “But your assumption that the territories outside of Romora would be willing to share any potential new discoveries is very naive.” He looked at her sympathetically. “The enemy that our ancestors fought, the very reason the wall of Mist exists, were so driven by their desire to steal our knowledge and exploit it for their own ends...If they _did_ win the war, that greed would have only been fostered over the centuries. If they managed to improve their technology, their archives, anything we would value...they wouldn’t part with it willingly.”

Minerva shook her head. “You’re attempting to describe an entity whose existence we aren’t even sure of,” she replied. “ ‘If’ they won the war, ‘if’ they improved their technology...To pontificate and theorize over something without concrete evidence is foolishness, Senator. I’m the best candidate to explore the world beyond the Mist, to gather that hard evidence and discover the truth. Unlike everyone else in the kingdom, I’ve been training for this ever since I was a child. I learned the Nocaligo language, I trained with my Fructeus to be able to defend myself-- ”

The blond Senator clenched his jaw. “You were barely able to stand after Antonius struck you,” he replied dismissively. “That alone proves that your training isn’t effective enough. How will you fare against an enemy that is actively trying to kill you?”

Minerva felt her nails dig into her skin. “I was ‘barely able to stand’ because of the length of my robes,” she replied curtly. “Even if you _were_ correct, a simple wardrobe malfunction should not negate the rest of my argument.”

The red-haired Senator pursed her lips. “Perhaps we should take a quick recess,” she suggested softly. “We can deliberate together and come back later in the afternoon.”

The bald Senator shook his head. “I’ve already heard enough,” he replied firmly. “Miss Colossa, I believe that the risk to your life is too great to grant you permission to leave the kingdom. I can’t justify sending you to your death to pursue this...this goal of yours.”

“Senator,” Minerva replied, “I already explained that you wouldn’t be legally responsible for--”

“It isn’t a matter of legal liability,” he replied. He sighed. “It’s a matter of ethical principle. Your goal is noble, but ultimately naive. You’re too young to appreciate the risks to--”

“I am a legal adult in the eyes of the kingdom,” Minerva said firmly. “I’m competent enough to vote in elections, to run for political office, to be imprisoned as punishment for a crime--why then, would I be too young and too incompetent to leave the kingdom, _on my own,_ with the only risk involved being my own life?”

“You wouldn’t just be risking _your_ life,” the blond Senator said hotly. “If the wrong person were to discover that the Romoran kingdom still exists, you would be putting the life of everyone in the kingdom--”

“ _If,_ ” Minerva interrupted, her voice rising. “ _If_ the wrong person discovered this. Again and again, you are talking about hypothetical situations! The probability of that happening can’t even be determined until I go out and--”

“The probability of that happening is _impossible,_ ” the bald Senator snapped. “I have had enough of this. Miss Colossa, as one of the three Senate members presiding over this hearing, I do not vote to grant you permission to leave the kingdom of Romora.”

The blonde Senator nodded. “I second that decision,” he added.

Minerva’s lips parted in shock. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. This...this was her only chance to convince them to let her leave. Sure, she could continue to come before the Senate each year, but what point would there be? If they denied her now, they would simply continue to deny her no matter how many times she petitioned. She looked up at the red-haired Senator and heard her sigh.

“I’m sorry, Miss Colossa,” she said softly. “I’m inclined to agree with my colleagues. Your dedication and forethought is admirable, but…”

Minerva looked down and bit the inside of her cheek. “It doesn’t matter,” she replied. “Even if you voted to grant me permission, you’d still be outnumbered.” 

The bald Senator picked up a gavel on the desk and hit it once, signalling the end of the hearing. The Senators rose from their seats and filed out of the room, and the guards escorted Minerva and her father after they had left. The only person left in the room was the secretary, who was still feverishly typing his transcript of the meeting.

When the door to the room closed behind them, Minerva sighed and crossed her arms. Before she could speak (and point out the various reasons she was in the right), Aurelius put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her in for a supportive hug. “I’m sorry, puella,” he murmured. “I know how badly you wanted this.”

Minerva returned her father’s embrace and smiled sadly. “There’s no reason to apologize, Papa,” she replied. “It’s not _your_ fault...”

He held her a bit tighter before pulling away and looking back at her. “Honey,” he said with a slightly disapproving frown. “Those trips to the Mist…” His voice wavered a bit. “You _know_ that you’re sensitive to it. Why didn’t you just tell your mother and I? You could’ve _died_ out there, and we never would have known.” 

“I know,” she replied softly. “I just...I couldn’t risk you two finding out. I knew that if I told you or Mama, you wouldn’t have let me leave. It was the only thing I could think of to compensate for my sensitivity, and in order for it to work effectively, I would have needed to do it consistently for a _long_ period of time.”

He was quiet for a moment, and then frowned. “I can’t believe we never noticed,” he mused. He furrowed his bushy brows. “How did you manage to do it?”

Minerva’s cheeks turned a bit pink and she looked away. “I...Well, I would sneak into your rooms and use my Fructeus to give you two an extra boost of melatonin while you were sleeping,” she explained sheepishly. “It took a while for me to figure out the right amount to give you without making you _too_ groggy and lethargic in the mornings. And just to make sure you two wouldn’t notice my footprints from the beach to the house, I’d drag a palm leaf behind me whenever I snuck out and back in.”

Aurelius sighed and smiled at his daughter. “You really do think of everything, don’t you?” He reached up and pinched her cheek, and she smiled back. The two of them walked down the hall to leave the building together. When her father wasn’t looking, her smile widened a bit. _You’re right, Papa,_ she thought. She looked out of a nearby window facing the sea, and as she stared at the Mist far in the distance, her thoughts drifted to a particular ace up her sleeve--or rather, underneath her floorboards--that she had been hiding ever since she’d first dreamt about leaving Romora as a child. _I_ **_do_ ** _think of everything..._


	4. Chapter 4

Minerva and her father walked together out of the disputandum; she was scowling as she struggled not to trip over her skirt as she carefully walked down the steps leading back to the town square. Her father stopped for a moment and then turned around to face her. “Why don’t we get some lunch before we sail out?” He reached into one of his tunic’s pockets and pulled out a small sack of coins. “I’ve heard great things about this new thermopolium , and it’s on the way to the docks,” he offered. “Apparently the fish sauce they use is to _die_ for…”

Before Minerva could reply, her stomach growled loudly. Aurelius laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said with a smile.

The two of them walked through the streets of Imperio back to the docks. Even when she was holding her skirt up out of the way of her sandals, Minerva still stumbled and tripped every few steps. When she nearly fell over onto a few loom-weavers at the textile market after her dress had snagged on a broken cobblestone, she huffed and crossed her arms. “That’s it, this is ridiculous,” she grumbled.

She moved off of the main pathway to avoid blocking the other pedestrians around her, and promptly lifted her skirts up over her head. Her father turned around to see that Minerva was no longer next to him; when he saw her taking her dress off on the side of the road, he immediately scrambled to where she was and then held his arms out to prevent anyone from seeing her remove her robes. A few passerby looked quizzically at the two of them, and Minerva frowned at her father. "Papa, I'm wearing an outfit underneath this," she said, revealing the clothes she had put on at home. She folded the robes and stuffed them into her rucksack. "There's no need for that."

Aurelius blushed and turned back around. "Oh," he replied with a sheepish grin. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Right, of course you are. Can't imagine you would've sailed the whole way here in that dress.” He crossed his arms. “Still...We could've stopped somewhere more secluded for you to take it off, you know. I don't like the idea of anyone seeing you taking your robes off and making...assumptions."

Minerva shrugged and slung her rucksack over her shoulder. "I never cared much for people like that," she replied. "Or their opinions. If I'm not breaking the laws against public nudity, then there's no reason for them to cast aspersions." She smirked. "Besides, the people who cast those aspersions are suddenly fine with nudity during Lupercalia and Flora. How many times have you seen men and women chastising the length of a girl's robes one day and then dancing naked with everyone during one of the spring festivals?"

Her father shrugged and started to walk with her down the street again. "Fair enough," he replied. They arrived at the entrance to the docks and her father pointed out a nearby outdoor area with small stoves and ovens powered by solar panels attached to them; each of them was simmering or baking a different food, and next to them was a booth where customers could place their order and retrieve/return plates and silverware. “Ah, there it is!” He and Minerva made their way to join the small line of customers and quickly found themselves next in line in a matter of minutes.

The young woman manning the booth looked a bit younger than Minerva, with tanned skin, long chestnut hair, and a sunny disposition. “Salve! What would you like to eat today?” 

Minerva and Aurelius scanned the menu for what options they had. “I’ll take a skewer of grilled shrimp with olive oil, please,” Aurelius said, pushing up his wiry spectacles after reading the menu. He glanced down at the small bag of Denaari in his pocket

Minerva eyed the menu; after her father had first mentioned that sauce and then smelled it from one of the nearby stoves, she was starting to crave it. “I’ll have the smelt fish and garum sauce on a warm bun,” she said finally. 

The cashier nodded and calculated their total bill with a small handheld calculator made of metal. “That’ll be...12 Denaari, please,” she said brightly. Aurelius fished into his bag and carefully counted out twelve bronze coins. Once they’d paid for their food, the cashier handed them some linen napkins and told them which stoves would have the food they wanted. Aurelius selected a wooden skewer of shrimp off of a grill; Minerva picked out one of the freshly-baked bread rolls cooling on top of a nearby oven. After adding a bit of the cooked fish mixed with a generous drizzle of sauce, she wrapped the napkin around the bun and walked with her father towards the docks. The two of them found an unoccupied bench facing the sea and sat down to eat together.

Minerva looked out at the ocean and watched the ships passing by. "What do you think the cuisine is like outside of Romora?"

Aurelius thought for a moment, and ate one of his shrimp. "Hmm...I guess it depends on what food staples they have," he replied. "Some of my old textbooks mention that some of the ancient kingdoms used rice a lot more than we do; rice with fish, cakes made with rice...they even made alcohol with it!"

"Maybe they still do," Minerva replied with a smile. As she looked down at her food, her smile faded. "We could find out, if the Senators would just let me explore. There's so much we could learn out there!" She gestured towards the horizon with her bun.

Her father was silent for a while, and when he finally spoke up again, his voice was quiet. "True, but...you can still follow your intellectual pursuits here, right?" He shifted. "Romorans have been making discoveries and improvements here for hundreds of years, even without contact with the outside world. I know how stifling it can be, but it's much less dangerous." He shrugged. "Well, to an extent. Some of the experiments those engineers carry out on Serpentrio are quite, ah, _explosive_."

Minerva ate another bite of her bun and dipped it in the garum sauce. "The potential knowledge out there is _worth_ the danger," she insisted. "We can't even determine how dangerous the outside world is until we go out there and find out for ourselves. It's like Plato's cave allegory; we could be spending our entire lives in Romora, believing that shadows made on the wall make up the entire world." 

Aurelius shifted his weight uncomfortably. "...Puella, can I tell you something? Not as an academic, but...as a father?"

Minerva looked at her father, confused but intrigued. "Of course, Papa," she said. 

Aurelius ran a hand through his hair. "I know this is selfish of me to say," he began shakily. "But to me, the potential knowledge out there isn't worth putting you in danger. The idea of you sailing through the Mist, exploring completely uncharted territory by yourself, unaware of the dangers out there--a-and I know we can't learn about those dangers until we explore. I _know_ that. But every time I think about you leaving, I'm terrified by how many ways things could go wrong." His lower lip trembled as he talked, and his voice shook. Minerva looked at her father in stunned silence; she'd never known that he felt this way. 

He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed her lovingly. "Minnie, no matter what the _actual_ probability is, I know that if you...If you died out there, nobody here would know about it. Your Fructeus keeps you from swimming in water, you're--you're more sensitive to the Mist, and you would be completely lost out there if you managed to escape the Mist without going mad or falling overboard. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, much less my own daughter."

Minerva leaned into her father's touch. "Papa, if you felt this way about me leaving, why didn't you tell me sooner? Why did you fight so hard for me to get the chance to leave?" 

Aurelius smiled sadly at her. "Because it's the _one_ thing you've ever wanted," he said warmly. "Any time I start to worry about what you'd face out there, I'd see the light in your eyes whenever you talked about all the things you wanted to do out there, the things you _hoped_ were out there." He chuckled softly. "Instead of playing 'house' or 'princess', you'd take your dolls and play 'anthropologist' and interview the local inhabitants of these little societies you'd made up."

Minerva smirked as she remembered just how much she had enjoyed playing those games as a child, and the two of them were quiet. "Papa, if I'd have known you felt this way, I would've petitioned for you to come with me," she said quietly.

Aurelius shook her head and his cheeks turned a bit pink. "Oh, you wouldn't want me out there," he said bashfully. "I'm not meant for grand adventures like that. At the first sign of danger, I'd be begging you to turn the ship around."

The two of them chuckled together. "Does Mama feel the same way about me leaving?" Minerva looked up at her father. "Has she just been hiding it too?"

Aurelius shook his head again. "She was concerned at first, when you first said you wanted to sail away from Romora," he said. "But after you first started training with your Fructeus, and after she convinced the Huntresses on the island to teach you some self-defense and survival skills, she was more comfortable with the idea of you out on your own." He fiddled with his robes absentmindedly. "I guess I'm the only coward in the family," he joked.

Minerva frowned and poked her father's nose with one end of her bun. " 'No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected,' " she quoted. "I think your nine-year-old daughter saying that her greatest dream is to explore the unknown outside of the island--something that hasn't been done in hundreds of years--is something you didn't expect."

Aurelius ruffled Minerva's hair a bit and smiled warmly at her. "That's the first time I've ever been _comforted_ by the words of Julius Caesar," he replied with a smirk. Minerva smiled back and rested her head on her father's shoulder while they ate the rest of their lunch.

Minerva licked a bit of sauce off of her lips and dabbed what was left with her napkin. When she was done, her father took her napkin and went back to dispose of the soiled linen in a laundry basket next to the cashier’s booth; an employee gathered the linens and dumped them into a large metal machine which, like the ovens and stoves, was powered by a large solar panel. The employee shut the lid on the machine, pressed a button, and within a few seconds the napkins inside were clean and spotless.

When Aurelius returned to Minerva, he looked over his shoulder towards the end of the dock where his own ship was. "I'll head to my boat and meet you by the buoy out there," he said, pointing at a large floating marker at the far edge of the coast. 

Minerva nodded and walked the opposite direction to where her boat was still docked. She unhitched the rope tethering her ship and slowly made her way out of Imperio's bay. The afternoon boat traffic was heavy, and the train of boats in front of her made their way towards open water at a slow crawl. By the time she'd made it to the buoy, her father had already arrived on his paddle board. 

Minerva shook her head in disbelief at her father's old water craft; no matter how far he was travelling, he always insisted on using his standing paddle board instead of a typical canoe or seated boat. "Let me know if your arms give out," she called out, maneuvering her boat until she was side-by-side with him. "I have enough room for you and the board, if you want to take a break."

His father waved his hand dismissively. "I'll be fine," he insisted. He flexed his arms, which were surprisingly muscular compared to the rest of his lanky frame. "I've been paddling around this whole kingdom since before you were born; a little hour-long ride won't wear me out!"

Minerva smirked and rolled her eyes. The two of them sailed in silence for a while, and Minerva noticed that every time they would sail past a Wisp, her father would glance at her for a moment out of the corner of his eye. The third time she noticed, she spoke up. "You don't have to worry, Papa," she said. "A few little Wisps aren't going to send me overboard, even with my D."

"You're sure?" He gave her a concerned look. "If you start to get light-headed, I can hop aboard and sail while you lie down for a bit," he offered.

Minerva shook her head. "I'll be fine," she insisted. 

The two of them became silent again, and Minerva's eyes wandered to the faraway walls of Mist. She wondered what the horizon would look like if it were no longer there, obscuring the rest of the world in a thick barrier of fog. _I'll find out soon,_ she thought to herself. Her face fell as she thought back to the Imperial hearing. _I was hoping that I could just get permission to leave and make this whole process a lot easier._ Even though she had been certain that she could convince the Senators, she'd never really **needed** their support--Well...legally, she did, but Minerva had made plans to leave regardless of whether or not she had to do it illegally. _Still, I would've preferred to leave without being labelled Dissolute afterwards…_

Dissolute Romorans who defied major Imperial laws were imprisoned for a minimum of five years; attempting to leave the kingdom, especially after being formally denied by the government, was an especially severe crime to commit. Minerva's jaw clenched. _It's worth the risk,_ she thought firmly. _Being forced to stay in this bubble of stagnant knowledge is already a form of prison._ She thought of the Senators' words, declaring that it would be an ethically poor decision to let her risk dying a pointless death. _The entire_ **_kingdom_ ** _is at risk of dying a pointless death,_ she thought bitterly. _We've spent so long in isolation, with no way to gain new information from the outside world...How could they ever think that one potential death is more important than our homeland's identity? How can we call ourselves academics and_ _seekers of knowledge_ _if we refuse to do just that!?_

A few strong waves lapped at the sides of her ship, bringing her back to reality as she held onto the mast to support herself. She closed her eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed. _There's no need to get so worked up_ , she reminded herself. _If they won't listen to reason, then I'll_ **_show_ ** _them that I'm right._

Her father heard her sigh and paddled a bit closer to her boat. "Are you feeling alright, Puella?" He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, and she covered his hand with hers.

"I suppose so," she replied. "I still don't understand the Senate's decision." She absentmindedly tapped some of her father's fingers. "But I'm trying to let it go," she said. 

Aurelius did his best from his position on the paddle boat to give his daughter a side hug. "I know it's disappointing," he said. "You've worked so hard for this…" He looked at her with a small smile. "Even if things didn't turn out the way you hoped, I want you to know I'm proud of you," he said warmly. "You had a goal, and you fought tooth-and-nail for it- metaphorically speaking, of course." He chuckled. "Though I bet if they had asked you to show your fighting skills outside of those long robes, you would've given that soldier the sparring match of the century. I've been on the receiving end of one of those Axon Whips before; if it hurt that much from an accidental hit, I can't imagine how it'd feel when you're really trying."

Minerva's somber expression from before completely vanished, and she playfully smacked her father's hand. "Oh please," she sighed, "That was five years ago, Papa!"

He smirked and went back to paddling next to her. "True," he said dramatically, "But my backside remembers it like it was yesterday!" The two of them laughed together and spent the rest of the trip back to Austellus exchanging various old anecdotes and memories with each other. As they talked nostalgically about the past, Minerva's heart started to sink a bit. She'd lived in Romora her entire life, and she knew that once she left, it would be a long time before she could safely come back. _This is the last day I'll be home,_ she thought. _For...months? Years? If I die while I'm exploring the world, this would be the last time I'm_ **_ever_ ** _home._ She looked at the approaching island of Austellus with a melancholy look in her eye. Even if she believed that leaving to gather knowledge for Romora was the best thing she could do for her homeland, she would miss it terribly.

Once they reached the coast of the island, Aurelius paddled to shore while Minerva headed further down towards the dock in order to tie her boat to one of the large wooden pillars that were clustered around the island. Once the boat was secured, she climbed up onto the nearby dock and looked out at the white sandy beach. A few children were giggling and playing together, chasing the waves when they receded and then running in the opposite direction when they came rushing back. A group of fishermen were carrying large barrels of fish, singing an old work song as they hauled their catch and headed down the path leading to the market. A few Huntresses--followers of Diana clad in handcrafted leather and silver pendants shaped like a crescent moon--were discussing the high number of deer that had been born during spring and estimating how long it would take for them to reduce the population to an acceptable level. The sound of the waves lapping at the dock and slightly rocking the nearby boats was behind her, and Minerva was soothed by the repetitive, familiar sound. 

Aurelius approached her with his paddle board and oar slung over his shoulder. "Do you want anything from the market before we head to the cottage?” He shifted the oar to a more comfortable position. "If you want," he offered, "I can get you a snack or something from the market while you relax at home." Even though Minerva had assured him that she was fine, he could tell by the look on her face that she was still bothered about something.

"There's plenty of food at home for me," Minerva replied. _Especially if you count what's stockpiled under my bed,_ she thought to herself. _Not that I'd ever frivolously eat what I've saved down there--I've been saving those rations for years!_ Hardtack biscuits, smoked fish and deer jerky, dried fruit and seaweed, nutritional "gummies" that she'd pretended to eat every morning since she was ten (and then hid in a jar to save for her journey)...if she budgeted her food properly, she could last roughly four or five months with what she'd been able to stealthily gather over the years. “Besides, Mama’s probably making dinner right now. I don’t want to spoil my appetite.”

The two of them walked home through the forest, taking a familiar path through the wooden bridges across small waterfalls and dirt roads lined on either side with stones that glowed faintly at night to guide travelers. Before long, they'd arrived at the wooden cottage lined with vines that they called home. The large solar panels on the roof shone in the afternoon sun, and the entire area was buzzing with different chirps, caws, croaks, and splashes coming from every direction in the forest. 

Minerva also heard her mother faintly humming in the large garden behind the house, and the humming became a bit louder as she walked towards the front of the cottage; she was wearing a pair of dirty canvas gloves and holding a briefcase that Minerva and Aurelius recognized as one of her botany kits. When Corona saw that her husband and daughter were back home, she beamed at them and jogged over to greet them. 

"Ah, there you are! And just in time too, I was about to go inside to wash my hands and serve dinner." She turned to Minerva, eager to hear about what had happened in Imperio. "What did the Senators say?" 

Minerva shifted her weight and crossed her arms. "They...denied my application," she said quietly. 

Corona's face fell and she put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Oh, Minnie," she sighed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm...disappointed," Minerva said finally. "Obviously, I'm upset too. But I know that stewing over it and hanging onto those feelings won't change their decision."

Corona narrowed her eyes. "What excuse did they have this time?"

Minerva crossed her arms. “Apparently, it wouldn’t be ethical to allow me to try to leave, just for the _potential_ of bringing back new knowledge and research to the island. They said that without concrete proof that the outside world has actually advanced, or even just changed over the centuries, they couldn’t justify sending me out there on the kingdom’s behalf.”

Corona scoffed. “Well, how the hell are you supposed to show them concrete proof unless you actually go out there?” She rolled her eyes. “What kind of circular logic is that?”

“ _Exactly!_ ” Minerva pinched the bridge of her nose. “But...what’s done is done,” she said with a resigned sigh. “There’s no point in getting emotional over it.”

Her parents both gave her a hug. “It’s _okay_ to express anything you’re feeling,” her mother said reassuringly. “I mean, you’ve wanted this for so long; spending years training in self-defense, your Devil Fruit, ship navigation...all for a trio of stubborn old goats to give you an answer like _that._ ” She hugged. “It’s okay if you’re upset, Minnie.” 

Aurelius smirked. “But even if you aren’t, I’m sure your mother can be visibly angry enough for all of us.” 

Corona lightly swatted her husband’s shoulder, and opened the door for everyone to come inside the cottage. “Come on,” she said with a warm smile, affectionately pinching her daughter’s cheek as she walked inside. “That hearing may have left a bad taste in our mouths, but a homemade dinner can help with that.”

The three of them spent the evening together, chatting and enjoying the venison soup that Corona had spent the afternoon cooking in a large pot on the stove. She talked about the progress of some of her plants, and mentioned that the peppers she’d put in the soup were actually from one of the newer cross-bred vegetables in the garden. She asked if Minerva wanted to help her harvest a few more of them tomorrow and analyze some leaf cuttings from a few other experimental plants. “I want to finish gathering data for everything back there before the end of the month,” Corona explained. “Just so I don’t fall behind and I can send my findings off to Occidena for them to put it in the queue for peer review.” She drank a bit of her tea. “Everything will go faster if we split up the work.”

Minerva finished the rest of her soup. “Of course, Mama,” she replied, fully aware that she would be gone before tomorrow morning. “Would it be alright if I did it in the afternoon? I want to spend the morning sleeping in.”

Corona got up to put Minerva’s dish in the sink, and kissed her daughter’s forehead. “Of course, Puella,” she said warmly. “You deserve some time for yourself to relax, after today.” Minerva smiled back at her mother, and felt a small pang of sadness mixed with guilt. Even if it was better for her plan to lie, it still hurt to deceive her mother like this. Aurelius got up to help his wife with the dishes, and Minerva looked out of a nearby window. The sun had set a while ago, and the sky was a dark shade of blue as the stars began to appear. Her plan was to leave for the dock at 10:00 pm; her parents both went to sleep at around 9:30, and by the time she’d made the ten-minute walk to the beach, it would be completely secluded. 

Minerva rose up out of her chair and headed to her room while her parents murmured to each other in the kitchen. She overheard a few stray words and phrases here and there: “should let her have her space,” “just not fair,” “we tried our best…” When she closed her bedroom door, she folded her arms and closed her eyes as she let out a long exhale. _I can be guilty and upset later,_ she told herself. She opened her eyes and looked at the floorboards underneath her bed. _Right now, I need to get everything together._ She glanced at the bronze analog clock on her bedside table, noting that the current time was 7:34 pm. _Mama will take a shower and brush her teeth in a few minutes, and she’ll get into bed afterwards at around 8:30. Then Papa will do the same and be in bed at 9:00. By 10 o’clock, they’ll both be asleep and I can sneak into their rooms to give them an extra boost of melatonin so they won’t wake up while I’m leaving...and I can leave my note for them on the kitchen table._

Minerva heard the sound of her mother turning on the shower faucet in the master bathroom, and the muffled sound of hot water as it flushed through the pipes underneath the house. She smiled to herself. _Right on schedule._ She heard footsteps as her father entered the master bedroom and settled into his large “reading chair”, likely about to read one of the books he had on the nearby bookshelf in the corner of the room. She walked to her bed and carefully removed the wooden boards underneath it, revealing a dark wheeled chest made of steel and reinforced with a top layer of leather (that had been treated with a substance to make it waterproof). The chest also had two thick, wide leather straps, allowing someone to wear it as a heavy backpack if they needed to. A metal latch kept the chest securely closed, with a 5-digit lock adding an extra layer of security.

Minerva quickly punched in the code to unlock the chest: “ACMRU”. She hadn’t wanted to use an actual word or name as her password, and had decided to use the first five letters of her favorite philosopher’s name--Marcus Aurelius--and then put them in alphabetical order. A simple way to make a secure password that few would be able to guess. After she unlocked the chest, she lifted the lid and took out a small checklist that was folded and placed on the top of the items stacked inside. She grabbed a nearby stylus and proceeded to catalog everything she had added to the chest over the years:

Dried foods (orange and apricot slices, raisins, deer jerky, dried/smoked fish, nuts, cacao nibs, seaweed)

2 jars of nutritional vitamins (A,B,C,D, Magnesium, and Calcium)

10 hardtack biscuits

1 box of looseleaf tea

1 portable saltwater filter (solar-charged)

1 hot plate (solar-charged)

5 250-page journals, leatherbound (waterproof)

10 styluses and a sharpener

1 commentarius (solar-charged), with 20 note discs (roughly 200 total hours of data)

1 jar of activated charcoal and toothbrush

2 blankets (1 wool, 1 linen)

3 sets of clothes (1 shirt, 1 pair of pants/shorts/long tunic, 1 pair of undergarments per set)

1 comb, 3 ribbons to tie hair back

1 dagger/pugio, with a leather sheath meant for the waist, and a small whetstone for blade maintenance

1 spare pair of leather sandals

1 basic first aid kit (3 rolls of sterile linen bandages, 1 small bottle of rubbing alcohol, 1 jar of activated charcoal, safety pins)

1 box of various jewelry items (to pawn/sell for local currency, or to trade)

1 copy of _Meditations, Part I_ (Books I, II, III, and IV included)

1 copy of _Understanding the Brain, third edition_

1 goodbye note for Mater and Pater

As she read through the list, she would check for whether or not the item was in the chest; once she found it, she would cross it off. After triple-checking the list and chest, she was certain that everything was packed. She took the folded goodbye note out of the case and slipped it in her pocket before closing and locking the chest again. She stretched her neck and shoulders, and glanced at the clock. _9:54._

From the other end of the house, she could hear her mother and father faintly snoring in their bedroom. It was something she’d heard thousands of times, something so light and mundane that managed to give her a sense of comfort when she heard it. But hearing it now, knowing that it would be the last time she may hear it and feel so at ease, made her chest indescribably heavy. A few tears welled up in her eyes and she quickly blinked them away, letting out a barely audible sniffle. _You can’t get too sentimental,_ she reminded herself firmly. She closed her eyes again and took a few deep breaths. _Come on, pull yourself together._

The weight in her chest gradually began to fade after a few minutes, and she stood up to make her way out of her bedroom. She silently crept through the house and opened the door to her parents’ shared bedroom. A few shafts of moonlight peeked through the drawn curtains of their window, and Minerva could see the side of her father’s head as he lay stomach-down on the bed, completely sprawled out. Her mother was on her side, still snoring as her chest rose and fell. Minerva’s heartbeat seemed to pound in her ears as she tiptoed towards her mother’s side of the bed first. She gently rested one of her hands on Corona’s head and her irises began to glow pink as she used her Fructeus’s power. Instantly, the image of her mother’s brain was clear in her mind’s eye; after a few seconds of concentration, she stimulated her mother’s pineal gland to produce a large amount of melatonin. She felt her mother sink further into the bed, her muscles completely relaxed.

Minerva gently caressed her mother’s shoulder and looked down at her with a sad smile before walking to the other side of the bed. She placed her hand over her father’s head and gave him an extra boost of melatonin as well. His snoring grew considerably louder, and one of his fingers twitched as he slept. Minerva tucked a stray piece of hair behind his ear and quietly left the bedroom. She shut the door behind her and returned to her bedroom. When she had returned, she glanced at the bronze clock once again. _10:01._

She knelt down and hefted the case over her shoulders with the leather straps fastened to the back. Her footsteps were quick and quiet as she made her way to the kitchen and placed her note onto the kitchen table. A few inches to her right, she saw the Recens at its usual spot on a nearby counter. It blinked sleepily and tilted its eye stalks to the side, confused as to where Minerva was going at this hour. Minerva put her index finger to her lips and gently pet the snail until its eyes began to close again. She smiled and stroked its shell with one of her fingers before turning around to leave through the front door. The air outside was warm and slightly muggy, and the dirt path underneath her was soft and damp. The sound of insects chirping and frogs croaking covered up the sound of Minerva’s quiet sniffling as she made her way to the beach.


	5. Chapter 5

The nocturnal hum of the forest's animals made Minerva feel as if the entire island was as exhilarated as she was with every step. The rush of the waterfalls and creeks, the hooting of the owls, and the sound of leaves rustling in the nighttime breeze, all of it left her heart racing as she ran to the beach. When she finally arrived, she was so caught up in the thrill of escaping that she almost forgot to stop herself and check for anyone else on the beach that could be potential witnesses. 

She came to a screeching halt and quickly backed up behind a nearby tree. After taking a few breaths to try and calm herself down, she used her Fructeus and her eyes glowed pink once again. "Brain Scan." She tried to sense the brain activity of anyone on the beach, quickly filtering out the brains of animals around her that were too small to be human. Each individual organism appeared in her mind's eye like a blip on a submarine's radar, and after a few seconds of concentrating, Minerva determined that she was the only human anywhere near the beach.

She made her way through the sand to the wooden dock where her boat was docked. After she stepped onboard, she unlatched the sliding panel to the lower area and carefully took the heavy chest off of her back before lowering it below deck. She closed the panel again and knelt by the pole where her ship was tied to the dock. Once she pulled the rope onboard and unfurled the sail, the late-night breeze immediately pushed the boat forward and it began to drift away from the coast. 

Minerva steered the boat in the direction of the wall of Mist to the south of Austellus, following the quickest route to the Romoran kingdom's border. She looked back at her home one final time as it gradually began to fade in the distance. The realization of what she was doing finally began to sink in as she watched Austellus drift away from her--or, more accurately,  _ she  _ was drifting away from  _ it. _ Despite her best efforts to keep her emotions in check, a few tears fell from her cheeks as she gave her homeland one last, silent goodbye.

Soon the calm and gentle waves of Austellus's coast gave way to the choppy and more chaotic waves of the open sea. The wind was strong and--when the occasional wave would splash the boat and spray her--would chill Minerva to the bone. She steeled herself and spent the next twenty minutes preparing herself for when she would soon encounter the wall of Mist that was getting closer and closer.  _ Step one,  _ she thought.  _ Tether yourself to the mast.  _ She outstretched one of her palms and concentrated on creating an Axon Whip long enough to tie around her waist and the ship's mast. Once it was an appropriate length, she used her free hand to grasp the base of the bundled nerves connected to her hand and gritted her teeth; she could use her Whips as a rope, but if she wanted to get rid of the electrical charge carried by the neurons and dendrites it was made of, she had to separate it from her body. She took a few deep breaths and braced herself for the pain she knew would come the instant she tore the link.  _ It's a quick burst of pain,  _ she assured herself.  _ You've done this dozens of times before, and you can do it now. One...two...three! _

She firmly pulled at the end of the rope, and the shock of pain as she ripped the whip apart from her hand caused her to sharply cry out in pain. The raw, burning sensation on her hand slowly subsided after a few seconds, and Minerve continued her work. She securely tied one end of the whip around her waist, and the other end of the ship's mast. She tested the strength of the rope by leaning back and straining with all of her might against the mast; she was only able to stumble a step or two backwards, but wasn't in any danger of falling overboard. 

_ Alright, step one's complete _ , she thought with a satisfied smile. She looked out ahead of her and then down at the Mist Reader on the mast. The needle was slowly moving to the right of the green area on the "safe" side of the chart, just a few inches to the left of the yellow bar.  _ And now for step two. _

Minerva outstretched her hands and summoned a large Myelin Shield, letting it expand until it formed a large dome surrounding the entire ship (and a few feet of the water on either side of it); the steady wind that had been moving the ship's sails at a swift pace immediately slowed now that the dome was blocking out most of the outside breeze. Thanks to the inertia that the gusts of wind provided, the boat was propelled towards the thick wall of Mist at a steady pace. Minerva quickly knelt down and opened the sliding door to grab one of the long double-sided oars stored in the ship's lower compartment. Once she managed to securely shut the door again, she stood up and braced herself; the boat was only a few dozen feet away from the Mist...then fifteen feet away, then ten, then five… 

Minerva began to paddle forward with the area of the ocean contained within her shield.  _ Step three: now that the wind can't move you forward, do it yourself.  _ The boat entered the dense wall of Mist, and soon Minerva was surrounded on all sides by a thick grey fog. A few Wisps slipped under the bottom of the dome she had created, and Minerva narrowed her eyes as she tried to push the faint thoughts and voices that were starting to form in her mind. She focused on paddling:  _ left, right, left, right, left, right… _ A Wisp brushed by her feet, and the voices became louder in her head. Minerva gritted her teeth and tried to ground herself, her voice tense as she pushed herself to keep going, to block the whispers and cacophonous murmurs that swirled around in her skull. "Left, right," she grunted, narrating her strokes with the oar. "Left, right…"

She repeated this like a mantra, paddling further and further through the Mist that surrounded her. "Left, right...Left, right…" The rough waves of the Romoran sea had completely vanished, and apart from Minerva's words and the splash of her oar, the sea was eerily quiet. If she hadn't been so focused on pushing forward, blocking out the sound of the Mist's voices and staring straight ahead, Minerva would have loved to stare at the view of the thick swirling fog that enveloped everything around her. The light of the moon was barely visible in the sky, and the stars were completely blocked out. Minerva used what little light she had to row in a straight line, eventually losing track of how long she had been in the Mist. Occasionally the whispers in her ear would manage to overtake her insistent repetition of "Left, right" and stray words would flow into her mind with little rhyme or reason between them.

_ Left, right…"not gone-" "far from--" "fruit...so much--" "the flame passes"...Left, right…"Pluton--" "is he here at last--" "Ah, her flowers bloom--" Left...right… "Roger--" "city of gold--" "D." "The journey continues--" _

"Left!" Minerva's voice was strained as she tried to block out the disjointed voices flooding her head. "Right!" Her breaths were shaky, and her arms were starting to ache from her minutes--or was it hours now, she couldn't tell for certain--of rowing. "L-Left...Right!" She clenched her jaw and gripped the wooden oar until her knuckles turned white. "I can do this," she breathed. "I w-won't give up. Not now." She wiped some sweat off of her brow and tried to ground herself. "Come on, find something else to keep you occupied. Distract yourself from the distractions." She grunted and continued to paddle. "Virgil once said that...ugh, damn it--'Come what may, all bad fortune must be conquered by endurance'. I'm out here alone, now; all I can do...is push forward...and endure, any way I can."

She tried to recall other quotes from various philosophers, authors, and academics to keep the voices of the Mist out of her mind. " 'A person's worth is...is measured by what he values," she muttered. "Marcus Aurelius. Hmm, what are some other quotes by him?" She furrowed her brows. "Ah! 'You have power over your own m-mind,'" she said. " " **Not** outside events." She smiled as she remembered the words by one of her personal heroes; as she fought to stay focused, to find the strength to keep going in the middle of nowhere with nobody else to support her, Aurelius's words were a great source of comfort. " 'R-remember this, and you...you will find strength.' " She swallowed and took a deep breath, inspired by Aurelius's words as they came from her lips. **_I_** _have power over my mind. And I will_ _forge my own path through the Mist! I_ ** _will!_**

Time passed as Minerva continued to talk to herself, forcing her way through the Mist for as long as she could. She didn't know how long she had been paddling, and right now, she didn't care. All that mattered was that she had to keep moving, keep pushing forward until her body couldn't take it anymore. Every turn of the oar was accompanied by a small grunt of effort; her shoulders and biceps felt like they were burning. When she ran out of quotes by Aurelius, she quickly switched to another philosopher. "Let's see...Hmm, Seneca. What are some quotes by Seneca? 'No man…No man was ever wise by chance.' 'Many things have fallen, only to rise higher.' And…"

The next stretch of time was filled with grunts of effort and quotes by Seneca. Her tongue was dry and her jaw ached from how long she had been talking to herself, but she refused to stop. Her entire body ached from how long she had been standing in one spot, tied to the ship's mast and rowing for what felt like forever. When her eyelids began to droop, she bit the inside of her cheek every few minutes in order to stay awake. Was it still nighttime? Had the sun started to rise? Minerva blinked and tried to peer through the Mist in a futile attempt to look for shafts of sunlight. She knew it was pointless when the fog around her was so dense, but...given the circumstances, her sense of logic was a bit warped. "Won't be able to row well if I'm too sleep deprived," she said out loud. Her voice was thick and ragged from talking nonstop for hours on end (it  _ had  _ to have been hours, at this point). "I've got a spare oar, but I still don't want to risk losing this one…" 

Her head started to droop a bit, and for a few moments she felt her body begin to relax and slump against the mast. Her eyes snapped open just as her forehead collided against the mast. She winced and cursed under her breath. "Dammit, I can't get tired now," she said desperately. "I have to...I have to keep going! I can't stop until I'm on the other side, or I could be lost in this damn Mist forever. No matter...no matter how long it takes…" 

Minerva let out a small yawn, and her head lolled forward again. This time, she managed to rouse herself before hitting her head. "I'd be able to stay awake if it weren't for…" she sighed as she lost her train of thought. The rocking and swaying of the boat, and the soothing sound of the waves lapping against the sides was making it too easy for her to fall asleep. The repetitive motion, the white noise…

Her eyes widened as she realized what she was hearing.  _ The waves... _ She peered through the darkness and watched the water as it collided with the boat; the sea had been so still for hours, but now...now, the current was back. Was she...Was she close to the other side of the Mist? 

Minerva turned her head to look at the layer of Mist around the Myelin dome. It could have been the lack of light around her, or the sleep deprivation, but the fog seemed a bit less dense. She gripped the oar, using the adrenaline that began to course through her veins to furiously paddle forward. "Come on," whispered hoarsely. "Come on, I'm close, I  _ know  _ it!"

The waves around the boat started to get stronger, and not just because of Minerva's rapid paddling. The thick wall of Mist surrounding her slowly but surely became less and less dense; the opaque grey fog from before, which hadn't allowed any light to pass through it, was now a little thinner as a few glimpses of light were barely visible in the haze. Minerva's heart pounded as she pushed forward, exhausted mentally and physically but willing herself to continue for just a little longer. Minutes passed, and more and more pockets of dim orange light began to show as the veil of Mist grew thinner. The chaotic voices in Minerva's mind slowly grew fainter and fainter, and when she gave one final push that surged the ship forward, they completely vanished as she found herself staring at a clear horizon.

Minerva stared in awe at the view in front of her, and her eyes watered as she slowly adjusted to the new source of light. The open sea stretched out for miles in every direction, except behind Minerva's boat. She turned around to look over her shoulder and saw the colossal wall of Mist that she had just sailed through, and she quickly looked away--there was nothing left for her in that direction. She faced forward and then tilted her chin to look up above her; the sky was a shade of dark blue that faded to a shade of orange as the sun started to rise in the east. The ship's compass/Log Pose (or as the Romorans called it, a "dux itineris") needle weakly spun clockwise in a circle over and over, and finally stopped and firmly pointed somewhere northeast. The smell of the air was subtly different from the Romoran sea, a bit harsher and saltier than the familiar ocean of Minerva's homeland. The water seemed a few shades darker, and when the waves sprayed her it was much colder than what she was used to. Wherever she was, it definitely wasn't anywhere in Romora. 

Minerva's hands trembled as she weakly held onto the oar, and she slowly sank to her knees as she stared at the new, unfamiliar world around her.  _ I did it.  _ Tears of joy and exhaustion fell down her cheeks, and a cracked smile spread across her face as she wept.  _ I did it!  _ Her chest rose and fell as she took a few shaky breaths and wiped her eyes. She sniffled and slowly raised her hands as she left the Myelin Shield around the ship become less and less solid, slowly taking on the texture of a large translucent bedsheet. She moved her hand to the side and watched the shield flutter away as it was carried by the morning breeze and eventually swallowed by the nearby waves. 

Once her sobs had subsided, she sniffled and carefully slid open the hatch to the lower cabin. She dropped the oar inside and fumbled to untie the rope that tied herself to the ship's mast, and winced as she moved her stiff lower body around; she'd been standing like this for hours. She strained and reached for the small anchor tied to one of the interior sides of the ship, and dropped it off of the side of the boat to keep it from drifting while she took a much-earned rest.

She carefully made her way down the wooden ladder to the lower cabin and securely shut the hatch that was now above her. Her eyes were bleary and scratchy as she stared longingly at the small net hammock in a corner of the cabin, and her steps to the bed were heavy and plodding. She lazily drew the curtain in front of the one porthole window on that side of the room and collapsed onto the hammock with a sigh. Her eyes dropped once, then twice, and then closed them entirely as she drifted off to sleep. She was emotionally and physically exhausted, she had no idea where she was, and no idea where she was headed, but she knew that she could figure that out later after she rested. At the very least, she knew that she had triumphed over the Mist and had entered the great unknown...


	6. Chapter 6

Minerva woke up some time later, and when she opened her eyes she winced. She could barely move her stiff and sore shoulders thanks to her long night of rowing to propel the boat through the Mist. When she shifted from her side to her back in the hammock, she groaned in pain and stared up at the ceiling.  _ Ugh...In hindsight, I wish I had gone paddling with Papa more often in order to strengthen my muscles.  _ She wondered if her mother and father were still sleeping back home in Romora. Was it morning there? Was it morning...here? 

Minerva slowly made her way to a sitting position and reached up to the covered window. She gently pulled the curtain aside and peered through it for any signs of sunlight. From how well she could see underneath the surface of the ocean, it was likely the afternoon. Minerva stared in wonder at the underwater scene: a few schools of brightly-colored fish drifted by the boat, and further out in the murky sea, she could see a cluster of dark finned creatures swimming and occasionally moving upwards to jump into the air. When she put her ear to the window and listened carefully, she heard a few muffled squeaks and whistles.  _ So, this place has...hmm, sounds like beluga whales? Dolphins? Definitely too high and too clipped to be something like a whale.  _

She eased her way out of the hammock and stumbled to her trunk. She fished out her audio recorder and one of the blank circular discs that could fit inside of it. Once she slipped the disk inside, she pressed one of the steel buttons on the commentarius and sat down on the floor. 

"Day One," she began. She crinkled her nose in distaste; her voice was so raspy and hoarse, and her words felt seas raw in her throat. It was as if she'd swallowed sandpaper--or spend an entire night talking to herself and then sobbed uncontrollably. "Ugh. Day One. I've managed to come out on the other side of the wall of Mist after a long period of rowing. How long exactly, I can't say; if I had to estimate...between three to six hours, with occasional breaks that lasted about two to three minutes each."

She leaned back against the trunk and continued. "I traveled out of Romora from an area of Mist south of Austellus's main dock. The prolonged exposure to the Mist was...stressful." She rubbed one of her eyes with the back of her hand. "Thanks to the hard Myelin Shield I'd placed around the ship, I was able to limit the Mist that actually touched me. Despite the extremely low visibility, I managed to navigate well enough by using the compass in front of me and simply rowing straight ahead. It's not as if I had a specific destination in mind…"

She tilted her head up and looked at the window. "I've emerged from the Mist in an area of open water, with no visible islands or landmarks in sight. The water here is darker, and its temperature is colder than the southern waters in Romora. I've seen a few schools of fish swim by the boat's window, but they're a species that I don't recognize; I'll try to sketch a reference in one of my journals later. I also noticed a group of large animals in the distance, and their behavior is reminiscent of some of the marine mammals in Romora--swimming in small pods, squeaking and whistling, jumping above the water. If they come closer to the windows, I'll try to document what they look like."

Minerva was silent for a moment as she stared through the window at the unfamiliar waters. "I have no idea what time it is, or if the time zone here is the same as Romora's. As for where I'm headed...The only clue I have is the direction that the dux itineris's needle is pointing." She furrowed her brows."When I emerged from the Mist, the needle spun around multiple times before settling on that fixed point. I wonder if this was a sign of the itineris recalibrating to this area's magnetic field, or maybe the magnetic field of the nearest island...Hmm,  _ or  _ the magnetic field of the island with the strongest magnetic pull in this area."

"I don't know how far this location is, but in the end I suppose it doesn't really matter," she mused. "No matter what the distance is, it's the only destination I have at this point." She slowly pushed herself up and nodded firmly. "Well, no better time to start sailing than the present. I'll end this recording, eat something from my rations, unfurl the sails to head towards that destination the compass is pointing to."

She pressed the "stop" button on the commentarius and opened the trunk to put it back inside, and her stomach rumbled as she grabbed a hardtack biscuit and a nutritional gummy. She also grabbed the water filter before closing the trunk and climbing the ladder to the upper level of the ship. The afternoon sun shone brightly, and Minerva squinted as she made her way up the ladder. After quickly scarfing down her breakfast, she leaned over one side of the ship and filled her pitcher with seawater. While it slowly filtered out the algae and contaminants, she pulled up the ship's anchor and unfurled the ship's sail. Minerva steered the ship in the direction the compass was pointing, and she began her first full day of sailing in this new world. 

The ocean breeze carried the boat over the waves, and Minerva spent the day observing the various animals that swam by the ship. At one point she could see the grey dorsal fins of a few creatures that followed the boat, and a wave of unease creeped over her. "They don't  _ look _ like shark fins," she muttered to herself. "Too curved. Then again, I'm judging them based off of Romoran sharks…" She tried to get a better look at the tops of their fins and got herself ready to summon an Axon Whip if they tried to rush the boat. "Probably not Sea Kings, either," she said. "The Prisma lining the bottom of the boat should keep them from attacking or getting too close." 

She peered at the figures in the water, curious about just what was following her. When one of them leapt out of the water and into the air with a loud splash, she jumped and let out a small yelp of surprise. "Oh!" The other creatures in the water followed their comrade's lead and jumped into the air as well, and Minerva recognized them as a trio of dolphins. She put a hand over her heart and smiled as she felt her heart racing. "Oh stars," she breathed. "Oh, that got the adrenaline pumping. But it's alright, it's just a few dolphins, nothing to worry about." 

The three dolphins poked their heads out above the water and chirped happily to each other. When they saw Minerva staring at them, they let out a few squeaks and dove back into the water before jumping back up into the air over and over. It seemed as if they were eagerly showing off for the stranger that was watching them. Minerva chuckled and the dolphins poked their heads above the water to squeak and chortle at her again. She gave them a small wave. "Salve!" She stopped and realized that even if dolphins could understand human speech, these dolphins probably didn't understand Romoran. "Hello! You're as friendly as the dolphins in my homeland," she said with a smile.

The dolphins continued to swim around the boat and squeak at Minerva, and she smiled fondly at them. Even if she couldn't understand them (and vice versa), it was nice to have some semblance of social interaction. "You know, I remember reading a theory written a few years ago by a marine biologist," she said to the closest dolphin. "He was a very devoted follower of Neptune, and he spent thirty years communicating with the pods of dolphins: recording their chatter, observing their nonverbal movements with each other. He hypothesized that your species has their own language that's almost as complex as ours."

The dolphin gurgled and whistled at her in reply. "Exactly," Minerva said with a smirk. "That series of chirps and whistles may be a specific phrase to you! Even if your 'language' doesn't have a grammatical structure or anything that complicated, it could still convey a certain emotion." Judging by the dolphin's playful nature, Minerva inferred that its squeaks meant something friendly; she cleared her throat and tried to imitate it, and the dolphin squealed and excitedly swam around in the water before jumping into the air again. It chirped to the two other dolphins and the three of them took turns chattering to Minerva, who would then imitate what she'd heard. The other two dolphins had a similar reaction and would leap into the air and swim in circles every time she spoke to them. 

The trio of dolphins travelled alongside her boat for the next few hours, and Minerva enjoyed their company. She gradually drank her filtered water to avoid dehydration, and when she went down to the lower deck to grab something to eat for dinner, they let out a series of concerned squeaks as she seemed to disappear. They dove under the water to search for her, and one of them saw her through the windows in the cabin. They eagerly chirped to the others, and the two dolphins swam to the other window closer to where she was. They rubbed their snouts against the tempered glass, and Minerva laughed when she saw them through the porthole. "You really are social creatures, aren't you," she teased. "I was only gone for a few minutes!" 

They continued to rub against the window, and Minerva took the opportunity to grab a stylus and one of her journals to make a few up-close sketches of the dolphins. Their noses were round and smooth, and whenever they opened their mouths to chirp and squeak at her they almost looked like they were smiling. They each had a few distinctive scratches and marks on their body, and Minerva jotted down a few quick notes that could help her tell the three of them apart: One of them had a slightly ripped tail flipper, one of them had a pointed scar on their midsection, and had a large amount of bitemarks all along their dorsal fin that the scar tissue had left almost completely white. For simplicity's sake, Minerva decided to name them Unos, Duo, and Tres in the diary.

Minerva drew them as best as she could, but they were constantly on the move; the three of them would swim up to the porthole, rub the window with their snout, and then swim around to the other window to do the exact same thing. Minerva was smiling the entire time, and she would have to stifle a laugh whenever one of them smiled at her with that goofy, open-mouthed grin.

She finished her sketches and set the diary back into the trunk before grabbing half of a biscuit and one of the dried fish from her rations. The dolphins noticed the fish in her hand and eagerly chortled, and Minerva shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't feed you," she said. "I need to make these rations last. Besides, you've survived long enough without human intervention." She took a bite of fish. "If you can expend energy by playing with me all day, you can swim to a shoal and hunt some mackerel or something." 

The dolphins whined and squeaked, and Minerva climbed back up to the upper level to continue sailing. The dolphins eagerly followed her and continued to keep her company for the next hour or so until the sun had completely set. Not wanting to handle sails under cover of darkness, Minerva made anchor and hoisted the sale, and the three dolphins watched her with a curious look on their face. They nudged the boat after it stopped moving, and Minerva shook her head. "It's alright," she said. "I'm going to stay here for the night. You don't have to stop with me. Following your migration pattern is more important than keeping me company."

The three dolphins eyed her for a moment as they bobbed up and down in the water, and they let out a few squeaks of (what Minerva assumed was) protest. Minerva waved her hand forward to goad them into leaving. "Now now, don't be childish," she insisted with a frown. "I'll be fine here." The three dolphins lingered for a while longer, but eventually they continued to swim away from her. As they moved on, they would occasionally turn around to look back at her and give her a few squeaks and chirps. Minerva gave them one final wave and smiled. "Give my regards to Neptune, would you?" 

She grabbed her water pitcher and scooped one more container of water to use later after it had been filtered. Once she descended into the lower cabin and secured the panel shut above her, she fumbled around for a dusty electronic lantern left next to the ladder steps and pressed the switch on one side of it. A decent amount of light filled the room as the lantern flickered and came to life, and Minerva carried it in one hand as she set the water pitcher in the same spot next to the ladder. 

She made her way to the trunk to grab one of her books and then settled into her hammock to enjoy a bit of light reading before bed. Once she felt that it was time to sleep, she marked her page and turned off the lantern before placing both items underneath her hammock. The sound of the boat gently creaking and the rocking of the waves above her put her at ease as she yawned and drifted off to sleep.  _ Day one, complete. _

  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Eustass "Captain" Kid glowered as he looked at the view around him: ocean, ocean, Hawkins's ship trailing in front of his own, and...what a surprise--more fucking ocean. He called out to his new "partner" from the front deck of his ship on his DenDen Mushi. "Oi, where's this 'great boon to us', Hawkins?" He gestured around him with his metal hand. "You sure your cards aren't faulty or something? We're in the middle of nowhere!"

Hawkins replied in his usual calm, monotone voice on the other end. "We should be close," he said. "There's a 94% probability that what we're looking for is less than five miles away to the southwest."

"We don't even know what we're looking for," Kid snapped. "I swear, if you dragged me out of the New World to go on a wild fucking goose chase in the middle of nowhere--"

"I wouldn't waste your time," Hawkins interrupted smoothly. "Especially if it meant wasting my own as well.  _ You're _ the one who demanded to accompany me."

Kid scoffed. "You think I'm gonna let you get something that can help us fight a Yonkou and then keep it all to yourself? I thought we were  _ partners _ now." His voice was aggressive and sarcastic as he referred to Hawkins with such a friendly term. 

"Unless you have something important to say, don't distract me," Hawkins said coldly. "My calculations with the cards can be thrown off or misinterpreted if you interrupt my readings."

Kid rolled his eyes and stuffed his DenDen Mushi into his pocket. He made his way to the ship's galley and grabbed a jug of sake to drink while he waited for Hawkins to finish his "readings." His first mate, Killer, was standing outside the door to the front deck; he was staring out at the horizon through his mask, constantly on the lookout for danger.

"Once we get rid of Red Hair Shanks," Kid said with a scowl, "Remind me to kill that bastard." He cocked his head towards Hawkins's ship, and Killer nodded.

"You've asked me to remind you to kill him three times now," Killer replied. Even though his face was covered, Kid knew that he was smirking. 

Killer suddenly tensed for a moment as he spied something out of the corner of his eye; he looked out at the ship's rear and his hand rested on one of his blades. "Someone's following us," he said firmly. "Looks like a Marine ship. It's gaining speed…"

Kid grinned and finished the last few gulps of sake in his jug before tossing it overboard. "About time," he said. "I was getting bored out here." As the Marine ship grew closer and closer, Kid pulled out his DenDen Mushi and called Hawkins again. "Sorry to distract ya again," he said sarcastically. "We've got a--"

"A Marine ship," Hawkins finished. "The cards said that there was a high probability that we would run into at least one of them. It's likely a cargo ship en route to the nearest port that recognized our ships. Hmm...there's a small probability that what we're looking for is on their ship. But still, it's not likely...They shouldn't be a problem; continue following my ship and once they attack, take care of them while I continue searching."

Kid's grip on his DenDen Mushi tightened and he stuffed it back into his pocket with a snarl. He hated Hawkins and he  _ hated  _ being ordered around, but at least he had a chance to take out some of his frustration on some hapless Marines.

**_BANG!_ **

Minerva shot up in her hammock, jolted awake by a deafening sound from somewhere outside. A few seconds later, she heard a loud splash that made her boat ripple from the waves it had caused.  _ Cannon fire?  _ Minerva scrambled out of bed to grab her water filter and her book and shove both of them into her trunk. She quickly hoisted it onto her back and secured the straps on her shoulders; whatever was happening outside, she wanted to be able to make an escape with her belongings intact. 

As she made her way topside, she heard distant yells and saw that there were not one, but three large ships floating in the water a few hundred yards away. The two darker ships were parallel to the third and she watched as the fight between them carried on. One of the ships was a pristine white vessel, and the sails were emblazoned with a crisp, navy blue logo that Minerva didn't recognize. One of the other ships had a macabre design, and the black flag hoisted at the top of the mast had an eerie image of a long-haired skull with two nails poking through it in the background. There was a strange head at the front of the ship, a doll or straw poppet's head with a large nail that was stuck in its forehead. The other ship was less subtle, but just as intimidating in its design; the front of the ship looked like a large fish's skull, and the sides were lined with gigantic rib bones. The sail's icon was of another skull, this time with spiky red hair and goggles, with a knife sticking through its head horizontally.

Minerva's mind raced, and she held onto her ship's mast as the waves caused by cannon fire rocked the boat from side to side.  _ The three of them are blocking any decent routes of escape,  _ she thought, looking out at the three ships.  _ But I doubt I'll be able to wait this out until one side wins. Besides, those two ships look like they belong to a group of outlaws; if they win the fight and notice my vessel, they could either rob me, sink my ship, or…both.  _ She glanced at the dark water below her; her Fructeus granted her an amazing ability, but it also prevented her from swimming or even floating on water. If she fell in, she'd sink to the ocean floor with no hope of survival.

She looked up at the towering ships around her, trying to think of a plan. Her ship was laughably small compared to the three that surrounded her, and she worried that if she tried to escape on her own that it would be caught in the crossfire of the cannons; when a stray iron cannonball whizzed through the air and landed a few yards away from her with a loud splash, she gripped the mast even tighter.  _ The white ship might belong to some kind of law enforcement, or military body,  _ she deduced, eyeing the crisp logo and the uniforms of the various people scrambling through the ship and barking orders.  _ If I give them a distress flare, they could see that I'm a "civilian" and take me aboard.  _

She looked at the other two ships that were returning fire.  _ Then again...they're outnumbered two-to-one,  _ she thought grimly.  _ Unless they have a proper strategy or they're extremely lucky, they're likely going to lose this fight. Maybe I should take my chances with these pirates. I'd either be a hostage or I'd simply be thrown overboard, but-- _

Her thoughts were cut off as she witnessed something extraordinarily strange. As the white ship launched another volley of cannonballs, all of them seemed to stop in midair and then fly back at the white ship that had launched them. The soldiers in white scrambled to avoid their own cannon fire, and Minerva's mouth dropped in surprise.  _ What kind of ability is that? Telekinesis? Magnetism?  _ She saw one of the pirates on the skeleton ship with one of his arms raised; even from far away, she could see that his red hair matched the logo on the ship.  _ Must be the captain _ , she mused.  _ If he's able to return fire so effectively, my best chances of survival might be with him.  _

She held out one of her palms and grew a long Axon Whip. She flung the Whip upwards, sending a large projectile of electricity above her into the sky as a distress signal. The soldiers in white turned to see what the strange burst of light was, and the pirates on the other side of the battlefield did as well. The three groups looked down at Minerva's small vessel, and then at Minerva herself. Now that she had their attention, she snapped the Whip again and sent another projectile into the sky; this time, it slightly missed its mark and flew at an angle closer to the Marine ship.

A few of the Marines immediately maneuvered some of their cannons to face this new enemy, mistaking Minerva's flare for a missed attack. Her eyes widened as a trio of cannons were swung around to aim at her boat, and she quickly threw up a hardened Myelin Shield. Three cannonballs flew through the air and struck the opaque dome she had set around the boat, and landed into the nearby water. Minerva stumbled back from the force and looked up; she couldn't see through the hardened dome, but a few cracks had started to form where the cannonballs had struck it.  _ I can't sail with the Shield blocking the wind,  _ she thought, frantically trying to find a way to escape.  _ And I wouldn't be able to move the ship fast enough with the oar to dodge their attacks. Come on, think! _

Another wave of cannonballs hit the Shield, and Minerva clung to the mast to avoid being knocked overboard. The cracks in the Shield grew wider, and the dome began to fracture. She heard the sound of another wave of cannonballs being launched, and the Shield shattered once they collided with it. She looked up desperately at the two pirate ships, and saw that the red-haired captain was yelling something to a man on the other boat. She couldn't quite make out what…

"Hawkins," Kid barked over his DenDen Mushi. "Any idea who that is?"

Hawkins's reply crackled over the snail's speaker. "Not yet," he replied. He quickly drew a few of his cards as he tried to determine if this previously unnoticed stranger was a friend, a foe, or something else.  _ The Chariot, upright: victory and control…The upright Priestess: intuition, mystery, and guidance...and The Wheel of Fortune, upright: luck, a turning point in our favor.  _ "It's her," he said firmly. "She's what we're looking for."

Kid watched as the strange shield the girl had put up began to crack after the second wave of cannonballs hit it. "She can't even defend herself against some lousy Marines," he argued. "How the hell is she supposed to give us an edge against a Yonkou!?"

"I'll figure that out once she's in our grasp," Hawkins replied tersely. "She's got a pack on her, and it looks like the frame is made of metal. Once her shield breaks, pull her onboard and we can sink the Marine ship and start the journey back."

Kid bared his teeth; he was getting sick of being led on with vague promises and then being shot down with orders at every turn.  _ She better be worth it,  _ he thought irritably. He saw her shield shatter, and he swiftly raised his metal arm upwards; immediately, the girl was pulled towards him (letting out a small, surprised scream that made Kid smirk) and flew through the air towards the Victoria Punk at top speed as she was carried by her pack. 

He slowed her down and caught the trunk as it stuck to his large metal prosthetic. Her hair stuck up in multiple places thanks to the wind, and her eyes were wide in shock and alarm. Kid dropped her onto the ground, and she grunted as she fell backwards onto the ship. Now that she was onboard, Kid used his Devil Fruit to make quick work of the Marine's ship. The sound of crashing metal, screaming men, and splintering wood was deafening as Kid ripped their cannons off of their hinges and smashed the ship to pieces. Within minutes, the Marine vessel sank underneath the waves and the two pirate ships began to move again. 

Minerva stared up in shock at the sky above her, still trying to process what had just happened. Her face was flushed and her chest heaved slightly as she tried to steady her breathing and slow her heart rate. The man who had...rescued her--kidnapped her? She didn't have a clue at this point--towered over her as she lay flat on the deck of his ship. He looked her up and down, sizing her up with furrowed eyebrows. 

Minerva's eyes widened as she blinked up at the hulking figure. He looked startlingly similar to the statues of Mars that she had frequently seen in her youth: a large muscular figure, an intense gaze that filled you with dread, battle scars on his face and chest, and an aura of bloodthirstiness that struck fear into the hearts of anyone around him. He even had the same scarlet hair that many Romoran artists depicted the god of war with. Her eyes drifted to the giant metal arm on his left side; while it didn't match up with any Romoran statues, it certainly added to the man's threatening presence.  _ There's no way that I'd be rescued by Mars himself,  _ she thought in disbelief.  _ Still, the resemblance is uncanny...Maybe he's a demigod?  _ She'd always viewed Romoran myths with a level of skepticism, assuming that they were mostly allegorical. Still, she knew little about the world outside of Romora--gods, nature spirits, water nymphs...maybe they were more literal than she thought.

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

A few more people looked down at her, and she saw the members of the other ship's crew come aboard out of the corner of her eye. A tall, slender man with long blonde hair and dark markings on his forehead knelt down and peered at her intently. "Can you hear me?" His voice was calm and emotionless as he stared at her. 

Minerva weakly nodded. " _Ita_ ," she replied, before quickly switching from Romoran to Nocaligo. "Y-Yes."

Hawkins raised an eyebrow at her initial response. "Why were you here?"

Minerva winced and slipped her arms out of the straps to the trunk so that she could sit up. "I was trying to sail to the nearest island," she said slowly, rubbing the back of her sore neck. "I was following my...Ah, what's the word for _itineris_...compass? No, no, Log Pose. My Log Pose was pointing to the northeast."

Hawkins silently raised his hands to consult his cards; Minerva stared in surprise as the cards seemed to float from his coat pockets and float in the air in front of him. _Is he some kind of Oracle?_ There were plenty of people in Romora who trained in the art of divination, and Minerva vaguely remembered that one of the methods they used involved cards; she knew that most of their skills were based off of more concrete methods of probability, and that most of them were encouraged to pursue degrees in statistics and other mathematical fields. 

"It's not likely that you're lying," Hawkins mused. He looked back at her. "As long as you answer my questions truthfully, you won't be harmed."

Minerva shifted uncomfortably and looked curiously at this strange Oracle. "What's the probability that you're telling me the truth?"

Hawkins was quiet for a moment, and Kid smirked; he took her question seriously? "98 percent," he replied. "You have a noticeable accent, one that I can't place. Where are you from?"

Minerva hesitated, unsure of what the pirate's reaction would be once she answered his question. _Does anyone know about Romora in this world? We've been hidden for almost a millennium, after all._ "I am from the Romoran Kingdom," she said haltingly. "Specifically, the island of Austellus." 

"Bullshit," Kid interjected. "Romora's not real. Might as well say you're from Skypeia." He crossed his arms and glared down threateningly at her. "Unless you want me to throw you in the ocean, you better start telling the truth."

Minerva narrowed her eyes and mirrored his action by crossing her arms. "You are incorrect," she replied firmly. "Romora has been isolated from the rest of the world, but it isn't fictional. Before you make the rash decision to throw me over the side of this ship, I can provide proof of my country's existence." She awkwardly reached behind her to pat her trunk. Kid raised his metal arm and pulled Minerva's trunk out from behind her, and she stumbled back slightly. 

Kid dropped it in front of her with a loud bang that made her flinch. "Go ahead then," he replied curtly, and then pointed behind him. "Or you'll join those Marines floating face-up out there." 

Minerva ignored his threat and quickly punched in the code to open her chest. The pirates watched her rummage through and pull out a few items. "These books are written in Romoran, and the publishing date on the inside cover is from ten years ago." She opened her dog-eared novel and pointed at the numerals printed on the first page; while Romoram and Nocaligo didn't share the exact same alphabet, the way numbers were written were exactly the same. Kid snatched the book from her and peered at the inside page while Hawkins consulted his cards again.

"She appears to be telling the truth," Hawkins said. "Are you carrying any weapons in this trunk?" 

Minerva stiffened. _They want to disarm me, but that isn't a problem,_ she thought. _If I'm pushed against a corner, I can use my Fructeus if I have to._ "One," she said. She slowly reached inside and held up the sheathed dagger that she'd packed. "Just this."

The dagger flew from her hands as Kid summoned it. He examined it and by the look on his face, he seemed impressed. "Not bad," he mused. He put the dagger in his pocket and tossed the book back towards the trunk; Minerva quickly caught it before it hit the floor. She clenched her jaw and set it carefully back into her trunk. The Oracle seemed pleasant enough, but this Mars look-alike was annoyingly brutish.

She closed the trunk and locked it again before standing up to face Hawkins. "What reason did you have for saving me? Or…" She glanced at Kid. "For ordering _him_ to save me?"

"What makes you think _he_ can order me around?" Kid asked irritably. 

Minerva didn't even turn to fully face Kid in response to his outburst. "You don't seem like a man who would willingly save someone," she replied bluntly. "I assumed that you were either told to by the Oracle--" she gestured to Hawkins-- "Or that you had an ulterior motive in rescuing me. But considering neither of you know me, I don't know what that motive could be."

Hawkins showed her one of his cards: the Wheel of Fortune, upright. "A few weeks ago, I was informed by the cards that something--or rather, someone--vital to our success would emerge near the Misty Sea. According to what I've observed, that key to success is you."

Minerva frowned. "What is this goal, exactly? If I'm going to help you, I need to know the specifics."

Kidd glared at her from behind. This chick definitely had some spunk to her...still, she had a lot of nerve mouthing off to her captors. 

Before Hawkins could answer, one of his crewmates called over to him from his ship. "Captain, your DenDen Mushi's ringing," he said. "It's Scratchman Apoo!"

Hawkins and Kid glanced at each other, unsure of why Apoo of all people would be contacting one of them; had he heard about their plan to take out Shanks? Hawkins made his way back to his own ship by summoning a large wave of straw to propel him forward. "We'll continue this at a later time," Hawkins said, leaving Minerva on the Victoria Punk with Kid and his crew.

She turned around and stood awkwardly in front of Kid. "If I'm going to travel with you, I might as well introduce myself," she said flatly. _Learning about...whatever these two pirate crews were planning...will be easier if I know more about them. Their names should be a good start._ "My name is Minerva D. Colossa."

Kid summoned her trunk and hoisted it over his shoulder. "Kid."

Minerva furrowed her brows. "I'm an adult," she said in a confused voice, "At least I am, according to Romoran law. Or is that your name?"

"My name," he grunted. He motioned for her to follow him inside, and she reluctantly complied.

"Is this your full name? From what I've studied, Nocaligo--er, non-Romorans--they have first and last names like ours."

"Full name's Eustass Kid," he replied. He turned right down the hallway. 

Minerva silently repeated his first name in her head. _Sounds like 'justus',_ she mused, crinkling her nose; 'justus' was the Romoran word for 'just' or 'righteous'. _Maybe his ancestors are from Romora? Hmmm, or maybe his people give their children ironic names…_ "What is the Oracle's name?"

Eustass went down a small flight of stairs, and Minerva followed. "The hell is an Oracle?"

Minerva tried to find the proper word in Nocaligo. "The man with the cards," she elaborated. "The one that you said didn't _order_ you to rescue me."

Eustass scowled when she said the word 'order.' "Name's Basil Hawkins," he said curtly. "He's a sneaky fucker, but right now we've got a common goal. And for whatever reason, his stupid cards say that you're gonna help us with that. _That's_ why I took you." 

The two of them passed by a long-haired man wearing face paint that made his features ghoulish and skull-like. "Cap'n," he greeted. He glanced at Minerva, who stood stock still and tried not to stare at his face markings. She knew that it was likely a coincidence, but they were similar to what Romoran devotees of Pluto would tattoo on themselves; these priests and priestesses of Pluto were respected for their work with Romora's dead, and it was considered rude to look them in the eye. 

"Hey Heat," Kid replied casually. "Is the 'interrogation room' cleared out?" Minerva was taken aback by the sadistic smirk on his face, and she wondered if this was where he was taking her.

Heat nodded. "There's still a few stubborn bloodstains that won't come out," he replied, "But apart from that, it's good to go," he said. He looked over and Minerva, who had her gaze firmly fixed on the floor; he could see that her face was pale. "Is she the 'great boon' that Hawkins was talking about?"

Kid shrugged. "Guess we'll find out," he replied. He saw how perturbed she was and his smile widened a bit. As he kicked open the nearby door to the 'interrogation room', he grabbed one of Minerva's arms with his free hand and threw her inside. She stumbled forward and fell onto the floor; there were a few dark stains on the wood floor, and her stomach turned as she realized what they were. Kid dropped her trunk and knelt down in front of her, forcefully turning her around to face him.

"Here's the deal," he said firmly. "Hawkins and I are allies for now, but I'm not going to let him keep the upper hand that'll help us take out a Yonkou _._ " He poked her with one of his thick metal fingers. "You're _my_ prisoner. Understand?"

Minerva bristled when he touched her. "If I'm of such vital importance to this mission of yours," she replied stiffly, "I know that you won't kill me, at least until I help you carry it out." She crossed her arms. "Threatening me at this point is useless."

Kid glared at her, annoyed that her words actually held some weight. He couldn't kill her...yet. "Threatening to _kill_ you is pointless," he corrected. He swiftly grabbed her chin, and she inhaled sharply. "But I can still do everything else." He saw her eyes briefly shift to the nearby bloodstains on the floor and grinned at the fearful expression on her face. To his disappointment, she didn't frantically try to fight back against him like so many others he'd tortured in this room; he preferred it when they put up a fight they couldn't possibly win.

"That...isn't entirely true," she replied, trying her best to swallow while Kid had his hand so close to her neck. "You two don't seem to know what it is you really need me to do. If I'm in a poor physical condition, then I might not be able to carry out the...the task I'm supposed to do in order to help you defeat this Yonkou."

Kid scoffed. "Whatever you're supposed to do, it won't be anything you need to be in shape to do it," he replied. "If I was able to grab you by the throat this easily, there's no way you'd be able to fight a Yonkou."

"A f-fair point," she retorted, stammering as she felt Kid's grip slightly tighten. "But perhaps I'm not meant to _fight_ in such a conventional way. Besides, if I'm severely injured, I won't be able to walk or talk effectively. If I'm to travel with you, would you really want to waste time making sure I'm able to keep up with the rest of the group? Would you want to make sure I don't sustain any brain damage, since it could prevent me from using my ability effectively? Any injury you give me would compromise your chances of succeeding, in the long term."

Apart from Minerva's slightly labored breathing and the creaking of the ship, the room was silent as Kid glowered at her. She was right, and he hated that she was right. He pushed her back with a growl and rose up to grab her trunk and tossed it to her. "Open this," he ordered. "I'm going through your shit." Minerva opened her mouth to reply, and he cut her off. "Unless you're about to say 'Yes sir, I'll open this for you,' I'll just toss whatever's inside into the fucking ocean," he snarled. " _Open it_."

Minerva's eyes widened, and she quickly closed her mouth. Kid watched with a smug sense of satisfaction in finding a way to successfully intimidate her, and once she opened the trunk he turned it around to face him as he dumped its contents onto the floor. Minerva bit the inside of her cheek as he sized up her belongings. She knew that they were just objects, but seeing him rummage through her things made her feel internally violated. He tossed her clothes and toiletries aside and grabbed her boxes of rations to take for himself, and Minerva felt her fingernails dig into her palms. 

He held up her pitcher. "What's this for?"

"It filters salt and contaminants out of seawater," she replied tersely. He set it back in the trunk.

"Good," he mused. "Instead of giving you our supply of fresh water, you can just use this." He held up her audio recorder and eyed it curiously, holding it up at all angles in his hands. "What's the brick for?"

Minerva reached up and tried to take it back from Kid before he somehow managed to break it with his metal hand. "Be careful with that," she said, biting back some of the hostility in her voice to avoid angering him. He immediately pulled his hand back before she could grab it, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. " _Please,_ " she said imploringly. "It's a commentarius."

Kid raised an eyebrow. "And that would be…" he trailed off mockingly. 

Minerva fought the urge to roll her eyes again. "It records sound," she explained. "I was planning to use it as an audio journal." She held her hands out. "Here, I can demonstrate how it works."

Kid tossed it to her, and she fell onto her stomach to keep it from clattering onto the floor. " _Stultus vobis_ ," she hissed. She looked up at him angrily. "I _just_ told you that it was fragile!"

He shrugged and smirked at her. "Good thing you caught it, then."

She pressed a button on the commentarius and cleared her throat. "Day 2," she began. "I am currently the hostage of an _ assine brutus _ named Eustass Kid, and his temporary ally, an Oracle named Basil Hawkins." She pressed the 'stop button' and rewound the disc before pressing 'play'. Her words clearly came through the audio player, and Kid raised an eyebrow. 

"It does record sound," he remarked. "Cool. Kinda like a Music Dial." He cocked his head at the phrase she'd said in Romoran. " _Brutus_ , huh?" Even Kid could understand that she'd called him a brute. Surprisingly though, he was more pleased than she thought he would be at the term. 

A bit of pink colored her cheeks, and she gently set the commentarius back into the trunk. Kidd disinterestedly thumbed through her journals and her Romoran novels, and rose up. "Nothing else interesting in here," he said definitively. He watched her as she neatly folded her clothes and carefully set her belongings back inside the trunk. "Since you're already set up here, this can be your bedroom," he said. He walked over to open the door and then turned around. "I'll grab you when it's time to eat. Until then, don't leave this room or I'll chain you to one of the walls."

He left the room before Minerva had a chance to respond. Once she was alone, she let out a long exhale and hugged her knees while she buried her head. _Just breathe,_ she thought to herself. _Lower your heart rate, lower your stress levels. There's no reason to get worked up._ She tried to calm down as best as she could, and decided to find something productive to occupy herself. She took one of her styluses and began to write a new journal entry in order to document everything that had happened this afternoon. On the back of the page, she sketched Hawkins, the pirate named Heat that she had encountered in the hallway, and Kid. As she added a few details to the sketches, she frowned and bit her lower lip. _I imagine that most hostages dislike their captors,_ she thought to herself. _Still, that brutus...Ugh, I can practically feel my prefrontal cortex straining to keep my emotions in check, and I've been around him for a few_ **_minutes_ ** _!_

Once she finished the sketches, she snapped her journal shut and used her blankets in order to make a flat pallet. Once she rolled some of her shirts into a pillow, she curled up with the novel she had been reading yesterday and tried to push her current surroundings (and her current captor) out of her mind. 

  
  



	9. Chapter 9

As the adrenaline rush of nearly being killed and subsequently getting kidnapped wore off, Minerva found herself nodding off every few minutes as she read her novel. She didn't want to let her guard down on the off chance that Kid or one of his subordinates came at her door while she was asleep. Instead of taking a short rest, she briefly closed her book and closed her eyes as she raised one of her hands to her head. Her eyes glowed pink as she concentrated on her own brain, focusing as she pictured a group of neurotransmitters and temporarily blocked them from producing a normal amount of adenosine (the main hormone that induces sleep). This process took her a few minutes to complete, and she stared straight ahead unblinking as she manipulated her brain's chemistry.

As she concentrated on using her ability, she hadn't heard Kid entering her room without warning. "I'm back," he said bluntly. "I want to--" He stopped in his tracks and stared at Minerva in her trance-like state, her eyes glowing as she held her hand to her head. "What the hell…"

He took a few uncertain steps forward and snapped his fingers in front of her face; she didn't move and continued to stare with those creepy glowing eyes. "Oi," he said firmly, shaking her shoulder to stop her from...doing whatever the hell she was doing. Minerva flinched and shut her eyes, startled by the sudden physical contact and force. She inhaled sharply and blinked up at him.

"Eustus," she mumbled, her Romoran accent adding an odd lilt to his name. She shook her head and blinked a few more times to clear her head. She peered at Kid, confused as to why he was here. "Why are you--"

"Kid," he corrected sharply. He pulled her up by the arm and trapped her against the nearby wall. "What the hell were you doing just now?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion and his voice was low and threatening. "You wouldn't be stupid enough to try and escape," he growled, "Are you?"

Minerva, unmoved by his intimidation, shook her head and frowned. "I was using my Fructeus, but not to escape," she explained simply, annoyed at his assumption. "I was starting to fall asleep, so I decided to use it to help stay awake for a little while longer."

Kid eyed her, still suspicious of her actions. "So you  _ do  _ have a Devil Fruit," he muttered. "I had a feeling that's what you were using out there." He stared at her for a while longer before taking her by the arm. She instinctively tried to pull back and planted her feet, but due to his strength he was able to drag her behind him as she struggled.

"Where are you taking me?" Minerva snapped, wincing at how tight Kid's grip was on her wrist. She dug her heels into the ground and Kid simply grabbed her other arm to pull her harder. "Are you not going to answer me--"

"I'm getting something," Kid snapped back. "I don't trust you to not try and escape after that freaky shit you pulled just now." He dragged her into a room filled with various metal weapons, armor, and random trinkets. After dropping her to the floor, he quickly grabbed a pair of iridescent handcuffs on a shelf before pulling her up to cuff her wrists. The moment the cuffs were around her hands, Minerva felt...strange. It felt as if there was a light weight that hung over her body and left her feeling uneasy.

"This…" Minerva stared down at the rainbow-colored material that made up the cuffs. "These are made of...Prisma?" 

Kid slipped the metal key to the cuffs in his coat pocket and continued to drag her down the hallway by the arm. "Sea Prism Stone," he replied. "If you've got a Devil Fruit, _ that _ \--" he jiggled her wrists and made the cuff's chain clatter-- "keeps you from using it. Even if you weren't lying before, I'm not going to risk you using it to slip away somehow."

Minerva glared at Kid as he dragged her into the ship's kitchen and forcefully sat her down into a chair. "If I  _ did  _ manage to escape," she replied irritably, "Where exactly do you think I'll go? We're surrounded on all sides by an ocean that you're more familiar with than I am. Assuming I'm able to leap off of this ship without you or your men stopping me, I would be jumping to my death." She did her best to cross her arms with the cuffs around her wrists. "I may not  _ like  _ this current situation, but I'm still a pragmatic person."

"And now you're a 'pragmatic person' that I can keep a closer eye on," Kid replied, grabbing a bottle of sake to drink before sitting down near her. He didn't know what pragmatic meant, but he had a feeling it meant something like 'annoying' or 'know-it-all' if she was using it to describe herself. "If you're really what I need to take out Shanks, I'm not gonna take any risks of you escaping, no matter how much you promise you aren't gonna run off."

Minerva glared at him silently and he smirked at the look on her face as he took a swig of his drink. "You don't  _ really  _ think that's a threatening face, do you?" He got up and rummaged around to grab some of her stolen rations in a cupboard, and tossed her biscuits and jerky onto the table before plopping back down into the chair. "Here, maybe some food'll calm you down and get you to stop pouting."

Minerva felt the tips of her ears heat up as she stared daggers at Kid. She bit and her tongue and tried to calm herself.  _ No matter how infuriating he is, there's no point in getting angry,  _ she thought.  _ Just cool your head, realize that he's trying to provoke you, and keep him from getting the satisfaction.  _ She reached for a biscuit and silently ate it while Kid watched her and ate a fistful of jerky. "Who exactly is this Yonko that you and Basil Hawkins are trying to kill?" She shifted in her seat. "From the way you use this word, it sounds like a sort of title."

"It is," he said with a mouth full of jerky. "He's too powerful to take on alone, so teaming up with Hawkins means we're more likely to take him out. Once he's dead, I'll get rid of Hawkins and take the title for myself." He swallowed and grinned. "The rest of those rookies and weaklings out there are either gonna stand in my way, or me and my crew will crush 'em."

" 'My crew and I,'" Minerva muttered quietly, quickly picking up on Kid's grammatical mistake.

"Huh? What're you muttering about?" Kid took another few gulps of sake.

"The correct grammar usage in that sentence is 'My crew and I will crush them'," Minerva said matter-of-factly. "Because you and your crew are the subject of the sentence that is performing the action, the appropriate pronoun placement would be 'My crew and I'."

Kid stared at her, confused as to why she even cared about something so insignificant. "Who gives a shit? You still knew what I was saying anyway," he replied with a scowl. He at another handful of jerky and leaned back in his chair. 

Minerva furrowed her brows and cocked her head slightly to the side. "I don't understand that phrase," she said, looking just as confused as Kid had been. "'gives a shit?' Is it some kind of colloquial saying?"

Kid let out a short laugh. "You don't know what 'shit' means?"

"No, no, I understand what those different words mean separately," Minerva replied. She stealthily took one of the last pieces of jerky before Kid could eat it all. "But I've never encountered this phrase before. What does it mean to 'give a shit'?"

Kid wasn't sure if she was just messing with him, or if she was legitimately asking him what that meant. She didn't seem like the type of person to joke about something like this, though--too prim, too proper and prissy. He shrugged. "It's a way to say you care about somethin'," he replied, taking another drink. "'Who gives a shit?' 'Who cares?'"

Minerva nodded slowly. "Ah, I see," she replied. She looked at Kid in the eyes and gave another small nod. "Thank you."

Kid raised an eyebrow. "For...what?"

"For teaching me something new," she replied. "In Romora, it's customary to thank someone if they teach you something that you don't know." She put a hand under her chin as she started to mutter to herself. "Hmm, what an odd way to describe concern. Almost paradoxical, to refer to something you care about with a term for excrement…"

Kid watched her tap her chin and analyze the fine linguistics of a phrase like "give a shit" after thanking him with a slight sense of bewilderment. This chick was _weird_. He leaned back in his chair and crossed one of his legs over the other. "Is everyone on Romora as weird as you?"

Minerva shrugged, unbothered by his callousness when talking about her homeland. "It depends on what you find weird about me, I suppose," she replied. "We value knowledge and encourage each other to follow any intellectual pursuits they may have." She clenched her jaw. "Well...to an  _ extent _ ." Her voice was slightly bitter as she continued. "We can pursue knowledge, unless we want to explore the outside world. I thought that this policy was counterproductive to our national philosophy, so I left to explore on my own."

Most of her words went into Kid's ear and out the other; even if Kid was completely sober, he'd have had trouble understanding what she was saying. "So...yeah," he concluded. "They're all as weird as you.  _ Almost _ as weird, since you're the only one who ran off." He shrugged. "At least you're not a total coward, though."

Minerva bristled at his words, and she thought of how her father had called himself a coward for not wanting her to leave Romora.  _ Is everyone in  _ **_his_ ** _ homeland a savage ignoramus? _ "What about your home? Is everyone there...like you?"

"There isn't  _ anyone _ like me," Kid said with a smug grin. He pointed at himself with his thumb. "That's why I'm gonna become King of the Pirates."

Minerva resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the swagger in his voice and the way his chest stuck out a bit when he talked about his "future title". She ate one more biscuit before Kid got up and ate the last pieces of food still on the table. He set the bottle of sake on the table and pulled her up by one of her arms. "C'mon," he said brusquely. "I'm taking you back to your room. You've had enough."

Minerva tried to pull away from him. "There's no need to manhandle me like this," she insisted angrily. "I can follow you just as well on my own." 

He grabbed his bottle of sake and let go of her. "Fine then," he replied casually. "If you're gonna walk around though, then be useful and carry this for me." He shoved the large sake jug into her arms and opened the door leading to the hallway, and turned back to see her standing in stunned silence. "You coming?" He smirked. "I thought you said you can follow me all by yourself."

Minerva's grip on the jug tightened and her face felt hot as she glowered at Kid.  _ As if chaining me like this and keeping me hostage isn't humiliating enough,  _ she thought angrily.  _ Now I'm his servant as well?  _ She bit the inside of her cheek and followed behind him down the hall. She narrowed his eyes as she stared at his back.  _ All of this reeks of insecurity,  _ she thought to herself.  _ Going through my belongings, pushing and dragging me around, making me carry his alcohol… _ She wondered about what this potential complex of his could stem from; even if he was a rude lout (or perhaps,  _ because  _ he was a rude lout), she was still curious about her captor. Where was he from? What's the nature of his ability? What could he teach her about the outside world, apart from a simple crude phrase? He may be ignorant, but when it came to the world's current state, he definitely knew more than she did. 

Minerva felt her shoulders ache from where Kid had grabbed her, and lamented how her makeshift "bed" in her cell was likely to make her feel even worse when she woke up. "Would I be able to get a hammock or a cot at some point?" She moved the sake jug to a slightly more comfortable position in her arms. "I can set it up myself, if you don't want your crewmates to spend time helping me while they have other things to do on the ship."

Kid shrugged. "We'll see," he replied. He looked back at her. "Oi, d'you know anything about medicine?" If he had to have this know-it-all on his ship, he might as well use her knowledge to do something useful onboard. 

Minerva was taken slightly aback by his sudden question. "I...yes, I know first aid," she replied awkwardly. "Splints, disinfecting wounds, simple things like that. I also have some horticultural--er, plant knowledge; depending on what herbs and plants are common here, I could make some basic medicines to treat fevers and other symptoms."

Kid nodded. "Alright," he said slowly. "Alright, that'll work. You'll move into the sick bay and be our medic, then."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "You trust me to give you and your crew medical attention?" Even with her knowledge of anatomy, she didn't know if she could handle the injuries that would be common to someone like Kid. If it was something serious that required any complicated surgery (unless it was brain-related), she doubted she would be able to do it properly.

"Not really, but you're the closest thing we've got to a doctor. If I'm gonna have you on the ship, you might as well make yourself useful." He opened the door to her current room and watched her follow him inside. "Besides, we don't get that many injuries." He smirked and there was a sadistic glint in his eye. "You'd mainly have to clean the blood of the enemy off of us whenever we finish a fight, and maybe clean up a few scrapes or lucky hits on us."

Minerva felt sickened by the bloodthirsty glint in Kid's voice, and she held up his sake jug so that he would take it and leave her alone for the rest of the night. He grabbed and opened it to take another few gulps of sake, and Minerva's nose crinkled at the strong smell emanating from the bottle. "If I'm going to be your crew's naval doctor, I'll be able to work more effectively if I can use my Fructeus," she said, jingling the cuffs around her wrists. "And if my hands were free."

Kid finished the rest of the sake and tossed the empty bottle aside before taking the key out of his coat pocket. Minerva held up her hands expectantly and after a few seconds, her wrists were free. As she rubbed the sore pink marks on her arm, Kid slipped the cuffs and the key back into his pocket. He looked down at her and grabbed her arm once again. "I'm letting you walk around without these... _ for now _ ," he said pointedly. "The moment you fuck up, or give me any reason to think you're up to something, they're back on and you're back in here--this time, chained to the wall after I toss your trunk of shit overboard."

Minerva stiffened at his threat, but she found the strength to meet his steely gaze and look him firmly in the eye. The two of them stared each other down in silence for a few moments until Kid let go of her arm. He turned around and made her trunk drift over to him before heading out the door. For a scrawny little smart-mouth, he had to admit that she had some guts; there weren't many people who could look Kid in the eye like that without folding or shrinking away. He motioned for her to follow him to the med bay, and Minerva quickly scooped up the rest of her things lying on the floor into her arms before shuffling out the door behind him. "Welcome to the crew, Doc'."


	10. Chapter 10

The Victoria Punk's medbay was cleaner than Minerva had expected, but not as much as she had hoped. It was larger than the interrogation room, and thankfully there were less bloodstains on the floor. There were a few old foldable cots between one of the walls and the side of a larger bed. There was a light layer of dust on the floor and every other surface. The windows were slightly smudged, and there were a few medical tools and supplies on a large wooden desk. Kid dropped her trunk onto the floor with a thud. "Home sweet home," he announced in a deadpan voice. 

Minerva took her trunk and pushed it under the large standing bed before taking a derisive look around the room. If she was going to be a proper medic (and sleep in this place) she wanted to clean every dusty and filthy inch of this room as soon as possible. "Do you have any cleaning supplies?" She scraped a layer of dust off of the wooden desk with her finger. "A proper medical environment should be sterile, or at the very least clean."

Kid scratched the back of his head. "There's a closet near the kitchen with a mop and some other shit," he said. "If you need any other medical stuff, we'll take some from the next island we stop at."

Minerva glanced at the old bottles of plants and medicine on the shelf, and the medical instruments on the desk that were _definitely_ not clean enough for medical use. "I'll...I'll see what I may need," she said awkwardly. She glanced at her trunk underneath the bed. "I suppose I could use one of my blank notebooks as a medical journal for now." She looked over at Kid. "Once I establish a clean environment and sterilize this equipment, could you send each of your crew members here so I can assess their health?"

Kid raised an eyebrow. "None of us are even sick," he said, confused. "You're just here to patch us up when we need it, and it won't be that often." 

"If I'm going to give you all proper medical treatment, I need to start by giving you a physical to establish a sort of 'baseline'," she insisted. "I can test your hearing and vision issues to track any decline in your sensory abilities later on. I can also look for anything you might have missed or overlooked that may need treatment." She counted on her fingers. "Infected cuts that haven't been properly cleaned can seem insignificant, but inflammation can easily lead to something more severe and fatal if it isn't treated." She looked around the room. "And judging by the state of this place, any cuts you and your crew tried to treat yourself were exposed to something unsanitary."

She also pointed at Kid's mechanical arm. "I can also track any issues that could stem from your prosthetic arm as well," she continued. "Back pain, phantom limb syndrome and discomfort, loss of balance, skin irritation…"

Kid flexed his metal fingers and thought about her offer. There were some days where he felt as if his mechanical arm made him feel 'off', and he'd woken up several times with an annoying dull ache in his shoulder that wouldn't go away for hours. He normally just ignored it; a little bit of pain like that isn't enough to keep Eustass "Captain" Kid from kicking ass, after all. Besides, there wasn't any way she could mess up his metal arm just by looking at it and maybe putting some ointment or alcohol or something on it...That was what he did all the time when the skin fused to the metal started to burn, and it worked out alright. "Sure, what the hell," he finally replied. "Just don't take too long."

A small noise came from deep within his coat pocket, and Minerva was surprised when Kid reached inside to pull out and answer a Recens snail, of all things. _He keeps that Recens in his pocket? Their shells are so fragile! Can it even breathe properly in there?_

Basil Hawkins's voice crackled through the receiver with a fuzzy static in his voice. "I've considered our options and consulted the cards multiple times," he said. "I believe we should allow Apoo to join the alliance with us."

"That slippery little freak?" Kid rolled his eyes. "But...I guess having a few more bodies in the fight wouldn't hurt. Just make sure he and his crew stays outta my way when we get to Shanks." He was quiet for a moment and glanced at Minerva. "You didn't tell him about the girl, did you?"

"Not specifically," Hawkins replied. "I mentioned that we had a stronger chance of defeating Shanks with a secret weapon we recently obtained, but I didn't explain the specifics. If her ability is what we need, then we need to keep it hidden from any other crew who might want to use it for themselves--or the Marines. Once we meet with his crew in the New World, we can decide whether or not we should reveal her then."

"Not like we even know what the hell we're supposed to use her for anyway," Kid remarked. Minerva narrowed her eyes at his words--nobody was going to _use_ her for anything, as far as she was concerned. "Speaking of that--if you're gonna talk to her from now on, you'll have to come onto my ship to do it." There was a small smirk on his face as he held the receiver in his hand. "She's on my crew now."

Hawkins was silent on the other end. He hadn't wanted Kid to come on this journey in the first place, and now he was trying to claim ownership over what they'd found thanks to _his_ insight? "...Very well," he replied flatly. Kid raised an eyebrow at his surprisingly calm response. "In the end, it doesn't matter if she's our prisoner or your crewmate; we're in an alliance, after all. Either way, she's on _our_ side."

Kid scowled and his grip on the DenDen Mushi tightened. Even when he managed to get one over on Hawkins, that bastard managed to stay annoyingly calm and collected. He couldn't wait for this alliance to fall apart, and the instant Shanks was dead, he was planning on putting a hole in Hawkins's chest. "Just let me know when you're coming aboard tomorrow," he said irritably. "And don't keep my _crewmate_ from her duties for too long." 

He ended the call with a click and angrily shoved it into his coat pocket. The snail let out a small squeak of discomfort, and Minerva's eyes widened at how harshly Kid was treating the creature. Recens were messengers of Mercury, a masterpiece of technology _and_ biology given to Romorans from the gods themselves! To handle it so roughly and not express any gratitude after it did its job was a great offense to any Romoran, regardless of their religious belief. Minerva took a few steps forward and held out her hand. "Your Recens needs medical attention as well," she said hastily. "I need to assess its condition and give it the treatment it needs--and deserves."

Kid frowned in confusion. " 'Recens?'"He looked down at his coat pocket. "You mean the DenDen Mushi? It works fine." 

"If it was emitting static like that from such a short-distance call, it clearly isn't," Minerva retorted. "Recens--DenDen Mushi, their shells are durable but if they're kept in poor conditions or their shells are put under repeated pressure, they can wear down over time." She looked at Kid imploringly. "I can try to treat it and improve its sound quality. Letting me examine him would benefit you," she insisted. "Please."

Kid saw as she stared up at him with wide grey eyes. She was _this_ worked up over a DenDen Mushi? Great, so she was a bookworm and a bleeding heart...How the hell was she supposed to help him defeat a Yonko? Still, his snail had been emitting that annoying crackly noise during calls for a while. It'd be easier for her to try and fix it, instead of having to get a brand new one. "Christ, fine," he snapped, fishing into his coat pocket and shoving his DenDen Mushi into her hands. "No need to get your panties in a twist over it."

Minerva used one hand to carefully unwrap the scarf tied around her hair, and set it down on the desk for the DenDen Mushi to rest on; after the mistreatment it had already suffered, Minerva wanted to give it the respect it deserved according to Romoran custom. Her hair fell around her shoulders, and she carefully removed the clothing and accessories that were on its shell--a miniature version of Kid's goggles and a leather jacket with spikes on the border. She examined its bare shell, gently running the pads of her fingers all over for any cracks or fractures. "Hmm…" Her hand brushed over a group of slightly discolored gray spots on its black shell. When she touched it, the snail frowned and let out a short grunt of discomfort. "What do you usually feed to your DenDen Mushi?" She said the Nocaligo name slowly, trying to get used to this new phrase.

Kid shrugged. "Whatever's around," he said. "Meat, bread, stuff like that. Sometimes if we're partying, I let him have a sip of beer."

Minerva's eyes widened. "You…" She shook her head in astonishment and ran a hand through her hair. "They're...they're _herbivores_ ," she stammered. She looked at the snail and gently stroked its head. "It's been living off of the yeast in bread and beer all this time!? _ Mehercule... _ and the meat, if it did anything at all, may have damaged his digestive system." Her thoughts drifted to the dried seaweed and fruit in her rations, and then looked up at Kid. "There are some things in my rations that it can eat," she said, still reeling at the fact that Kid fed this poor creature bread, meat, and _beer_. 

She gingerly picked up the snail and put her scarf in her side pocket, and hurriedly followed Kid to the kitchen where the rest of Kid's crew was eating. She ignored them completely as she opened the cupboard where she had seen Kid take out some of her food and snatched the bags of seaweed and dried fruit before setting it down in front of the snail on the table. One of Kid's crewmates, the one with skull face paint named Heat, peered at the DenDen Mushi. "Hey, is there somethin' wrong with Little Kid? I thought you fed him last night, Captain."

Kid crossed his arms. "I did," he retorted with a scowl, "But _apparently_ I was giving him the wrong shit to eat." 

Kid's first mate, a man with long yellow hair, slurped a few noodles through some holes in the mask covering his face. "I told you they didn't eat meat," he said with a shrug. Kid responded by raising one of his middle fingers, and Minerva gently stroked the snail as she held up a small raisin. 

"It isn't fresh, but it's better than what you were being fed before," she said gently. The snail tentatively sniffed the dried fruit and took a small bite. It let out a small, satisfied cooing sound and immediately ate the rest of the raisin, and Minerva smiled as she stroked its cheek and made a small pile of seaweed and fruit for the snail to eat. While it was gorging itself on this delicious new food, she gauged how much was left in her bags and placed it back in the cabinet before sitting down at the end of the table closest to the snail. "The calcium in the seaweed should help him function better," she told Kid. "Though it'd probably be better to rinse some fresh seaweed instead of giving him dried food; the hydration might help him feel better as well."

Kid looked down at his DenDen Mushi as it happily ate and rubbed one of its eye-stalks against Minerva's hand. "So it'll stop making that static noise now," he said, "Right?" He wasn't used to seeing any affection on his ship; the Kid Pirates were many things, but "soft" wasn't one of them. The sight of his DenDen Mushi cuddling up to Minerva made him feel uneasy, and mushy, and...blegh.

"If calcium deficiency and poor diet are what caused the static issues, then yes," she replied. As she pet Little Kid, she looked across the table at Kid's crew and shifted her leg awkwardly as she sat in her chair. "Since I'm a member of this crew now, I suppose I should introduce myself," she said. "I'm--"

"Colossa," one of Kid's other crewmates spoke up. He was incredibly tall, and wore a long brown cloak over a revealing outfit made of mesh. 

The masked pirate nodded. "We were on the deck when Hawkins spoke to you."

Minerva blinked. "Oh," she said. "I must not have been able to see you all, then; from where I was lying down on the deck, the only people I could see were him and Eu--ahem, Kid." She glanced at her new "captain" and saw him raise an eyebrow.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Kid glared at her. "I told you to call me 'Kid', woman."

"I'm not trying to offend you," Minerva replied nonchalantly. "In Romoran grammar, we refer to each other by our first names and then our surnames. I've studied Nocaligo for years, but I'm still used to saying my name the Romoran way." She turned back to face the tall cloaked pirate. "Ah, that's why you called me Colossa just now," she noted. "What is your name, then?"

The tall cloaked man took a sip of beer. "Wire."

Minerva waited for him to continue, but he simply went back to drinking. "I...I'm confused," she said candidly. "Do you have a surname?"

Wire shook his head and took another sip. "Orphan."

Minerva raised her eyebrows. "I see," she replied quietly. She looked at the masked pirate, who was slurping more noodles. "And you?"

"Killer," he replied, wiping a few drops of soup that lingered on the bottom of his mask. Like Wire, he hadn't added a surname. Instead of asking the same question, Minerva glanced at the third pirate before instinctively looking away the moment she saw his face markings. 

"And you're Heat, yes?" Her voice was a bit timid. "I saw you in the hallway, earlier."

The rest of the crew looked at her strangely, wondering what about Heat made her act so strangely, and Kid smirked. "Holy shit Heat, aren't you a ladykiller," he teased, leaning against the wall. "Less than a day after meeting ya and she can't even look you in the eye without gettin' all flustered." Heat's pale cheeks turned pink behind his black markings and he quickly shoveled food in his mouth so that he didn't have to talk.

Minerva glared at Kid. "That isn't the reason," she replied irritably. She turned to look at the general area of where Heat was, still too anxious to look him in the eye. Even if he likely wasn't a priest of Pluto, she had been raised to quickly look away from anyone who had markings just like his; breaking a 17-year habit was more difficult than she would have thought. "It's simply a cultural reaction." She forced herself to look at Heat's face. "In Romora, there are people who have markings like yours," she explained to Heat, whose mouth was now full of food. "They're the priests of Pluto, the god of the dead. It's considered rude to look them in the eye."

Heat slowly nodded and swallowed. "Oh, yeah? Huh...cool." He took a swig of beer. "Never met anyone with tattoos like mine before." When he set his tankard back onto the table, he looked over at Kid. "So...she's in the crew now?"

Kid nodded begrudgingly. "I wanted to get some leverage over Hawkins," he replied. "Besides, we needed a medic." 

Killer, Wire, and Heat nodded and made various noises of agreement. "Oh, finally," Heat said. "Wire's been the one patching us up since he knows how to sew, but apart from that, he can't do anything else."

Wire shrugged and took another sip of beer. "I tried," he said simply.

"It's not as if we get that many injuries," Killer replied. "Still, you did well, Wire." Wire gave a small thumbs-up while he finished his drink. "I don't think Kid would let anyone else but you sew up a slash to the arm with bright pink thread without killing them immediately after."

The pirates smirked, and Kid rolled his eyes. "Ah, fuck you," he snapped; his tone was less hostile than Minerva thought it would be, and weirdly playful. He'd also used another phrase that she hadn't heard before. 

"What does 'fuck you' mean?"

The four other pirates looked at her with surprise, but before his crewmates could answer her, Kid quickly spoke up. "It's a...compliment," he said slowly, a small smirk forming on his face. The rest of his crew picked up on what he was doing and tried not to ruin the joke as Minerva listened to him eagerly. "For someone you're close to, like a crewmate, you know?"

Minerva raised an eyebrow. Just because she didn't know this phrase, that didn't mean she was completely naive and ignorant of context clues. _He rolled his eyes and said it in a completely non-friendly tone,_ she thought to herself. She stared at Kid for a moment before slowly giving him a small smile. "Ah, I see," she replied. "Thank you for teaching me another new phrase." She rose up from the table and handed Kid his DenDen Mushi, who cooed and rubbed against her hand one more time. "It's getting a bit late. I'm going to retrieve those cleaning supplies from the closet and take them to the med bay before going to bed." She gave Kid a small respectful nod and beamed at him. "Fuck you, captain!"

Kid froze up for a moment, and he could tell by the mischievous glint in her eyes that he hadn't managed to fool her. Before he could open his mouth, she silently left the kitchen. The moment the door closed, the rest of his crewmates snickered and he glared at them. "Ah, shut up," he hissed, grabbing a bottle of booze and making his way to the other door to storm back to his room. _Fucking smartass_.


	11. Chapter 11

Minerva spent the rest of the evening cleaning the med bay from top to bottom with the few supplies she had found in the ship's closet. There was a mop and bucket, a few rags, and a few miscellaneous soap bars. It wasn't much, but Minerva was determined to work with what she had available. 

Once she closed the door to the cabin, she took her scarf out of her pocket and looked for any signs of mucus or stains caused by Kid's DenDen Mushi before tying her hair up once again. This scarf was her oldest possession, and had actually been her baby blanket when she had been born; the priestesses of Minerva were so overjoyed at her birth, that they insisted on presenting her family with a homemade gift made with their altar's sacred loom. It was made of a curious material that never seemed to tear, rip, or stain regardless of how many years Minerva had worn it. The dark wine-colored fabric had never faded, and whenever Minerva held it or looked at it, it brought a small sense of comfort; even if her own life was constantly changing, this small item was her one constant.

Minerva mopped the floors with a mixture of filtered seawater (thanks to her pitcher) and one of the soap bars, and wiped down every surface in the room with the rags. The smudges on the windows took a decent amount of time and effort to clean, but after a few minutes of persistence and elbow grease they were significantly less filthy. She wiped down and mopped the room one more time, and looked down at the medical tools that were lying on the desk. Even if she cleaned them with one of the rags, she doubted they would be sanitary enough to use without risking infection. She decided to grab a large pot from the kitchen and use her hot plate to boil more purified water, and carefully placed the tools inside in an attempt to sterilize them. While she waited for an hour or so to pass before she could remove the tools, she settled onto her new bed with her tape recorder.

"Continuing Day 3," she began in Romoran. "I've been 'promoted', so to speak, from Eustus Kid's prisoner to an involuntary member of his crew as a medic. The medical bay on this ship is…" She sighed. "Not ideal. I've spent the last two hours cleaning and attempting to sterilize the few tools here: an oral thermometer, a stethoscope--obviously, I just sterilized the metal components in boiling water--a few scalpels of various sizes, some sutures and a pair of forceps." She glanced at the other items on the shelf, stored in jars and bottles that were now clean. "I also have a few other items, but they don't need extreme sterilization. There's a mortar and pestle with a few herbs that are in  _ unlabeled _ jars, so I can only make an educated guess as to what's inside. There are a few bottles of ointment and some kinds of disinfectant; even if they aren't labeled, the smell is distinctive and easily recognizable. And, finally, there are multiple jars containing rolls of gauze."

She looked out one of her windows at the night sky. "This isn't what I was expecting to experience during my first few days outside of Romora," she continued. She shrugged and leaned back against the wall. "Then again, I didn't really know  _ what  _ to expect." After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "I don't regret my decision to leave. Even if I did, I know I can't go back home now; if I managed to escape this ship and journey back to the Mist without these two pirate crews recapturing me, I'd either die or go mad on my way back to Romora...or I'd survive, be branded a Dissolute and a deserter, and be imprisoned." She watched as the moon slowly began to become visible in the window. 

"On a less depressing note, I've learned a few new things about how the culture of these pirates differs from Romora," she said, changing the subject. "Recens are used here, and are referred to as DenDen Mushi. Instead of regarding them as sacred gifts from Mercury and treating them as such, they're considered much more mundane. Eustus keeps his inside one of his pockets, and has fed the poor thing an appalling diet consisting of bread, meat, and beer." She shook her head in disbelief. "I hope that this treatment of Recens isn't common amongst others, and that Eustus is simply an extreme outlier." 

She frowned and furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about her new captain. "Eustus is a very intriguing person to me, despite his boorish personality and violent tendencies. His Fructeus--or Devil Fruit, as the Nocaligo say--seems to revolve around metal manipulation. Originally I thought that it would be related to magnetism, but he's able to use his ability to attract non-magnetic metal items like my dagger and my trunk. I wonder if his prosthetic arm is something he created and can operate using his ability; it seems to be made of random pieces of jagged metal, yet he's still able to use it as a normal prosthetic without any clear signals that it's connected to his nervous system." She rubbed her chin and thought to herself. "Hmm...note to self: at some point, try to determine the inner workings of this prosthetic arm by examining him with my Fructeus. Scan him while he's completely still, then when moving his prosthetic, and then when using his ability."

She lay down on her side and glanced at the pot full of sterilized tools. "His ability isn't the only interesting thing about him," she mused. "I'm genuinely curious as to how someone with his personality manages to lead a pirate crew without multiple conflicts arising every day." She counted on her fingers. "He's hostile, demanding, dismissive, and selfish. He also seems to have some issue with control, as displayed by his decision to make me part of his crew to gain some kind of leverage over his ally. He has also made continuous threats against me--threats that, thanks to my status as an apparently 'vital' asset to him, have no real weight. At first he threatened to kill me, then to restrain me with cuffs made of Prisma, and then to toss my belongings overboard when the first two threats failed to properly intimidate me."

She considered what both Hawkins and Kid had said about her. "I'd like to speak with Basil Hawkins tomorrow and learn more about this shared enemy of theirs. I still don't understand what they need me for, and frankly speaking, I doubt they know the specifics themselves." She frowned. "You know, this is why I never cared much for divination or becoming an Oracle. Everything is too vague for my liking, even when using various methods to provide validity to prophecies. If they don't know how I can be of use to them, then how do they  _ really  _ know that they need me? It's circular logic all around." She smirked. "Heh, 'circular logic' being all 'round..."

Her mouth felt a bit dry after speaking for so long, and she decided to wrap up her notes. "I'll be performing physical exams tomorrow on the rest of the crew," she concluded. "Basil Hawkins also wishes to meet with me at some point, so hopefully I can learn more about my intended purpose, and about the outside world in general. I'll write a list of prepared questions in one of my journals tomorrow morning." 

She ended her recording with a click of one of the buttons, and got up to pour the water out of the pot now that it wasn't scalding to the touch. As she made her way to the med bay's sink on the other side of the room, she glanced out of the window on the door and jumped when she realized that someone was looking in on her. A snicker came through the other side of the door, and Eustass poked his head in to smirk at her. "You're a jumpy one," he remarked. He glanced down at the pot in her hands filled with medical equipment. "The hell're you doing?"

Minerva put her free hand on her hip. "Sterilizing these tools," she replied tersely. "Did you have any proper reason for coming here, or did you just want to mock me and pry into what I'm doing?" 

"I came to give you an order," he retorted, "When you do those 'exams' tomorrow, I want mine to be done first so I can get it outta the way."

Minerva set the pot on the desk and carefully removed the tools, seeming to ignore him. "Alright. Is there anything else? If not, I'm going to get some sleep soon."

"One more thing," he added. "If you're gonna be on my crew, you're gonna learn how to fight. I'm not risking the lives of my men by having them constantly cover your ass whenever we get attacked." He crossed his arms and looked down at her. "Once you're done doing your doctor shit tomorrow with all of us, Killer's going to try and whip you into shape."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "I'm more than capable of defending myself," she replied coolly. "You can tell Killer that I appreciate the offer, but it's unnecessary--"

"You can fucking tell him yourself, Princess," Kid spat, crossing his arms. "Considering I had to save your ass from some Marine trash, I can safely say that no, you  _ aren't  _ able to defend yourself. And if you're going to be on this crew,  _ my  _ crew, you're not going to be dead weight during a fight. This isn't a polite invitation, it's an order from your captain."

Minerva felt the tips of her ears warm and she tried to control the anger bubbling up inside of her chest. "Believe me, I would  _ never  _ mistake something you say for anything polite," she replied icily. "It's foolish to make an assumption about my ability based off of a single isolated incident. Defending myself on a small-scale vessel against an enemy I've never encountered while being outnumbered is a different test of my abilities than close-quarter combat alongside four other people."

Kid glared at her and swiftly grabbed her arm when she was setting the pot underneath the desk, and it clattered to the floor. He shoved her back, and she grabbed the bed frame behind her to catch herself. "If there's one thing I hate, it's a weakling who insists they're stronger than they really are," he spat. "I don't care about any little speeches or debate bullshit you want to spew at me. If you want to show me how well you can fight, then stop acting like an uppity little bitch and  _ show  _ me tomorrow when you train with Killer." Minerva's knuckles turned white as she gripped the frame behind her, biting the inside of her cheek to try and restrain herself.

"I may not know all sorts of academic shit like you, but I'm  _ not _ a fucking moron," he insisted. "I can see that by the way you hold yourself, by the way you walk, and  _ especially _ the way you talk, that you may have had a few practice fights and sparring sessions before, and that's  _ it.  _ That isn't gonna cut it here." 

Minerva stared silently at Kid. He wasn't wrong; she'd learned basic combat from the Huntresses on Austellus and a few soldiers on Orientem, but she always knew deep down that she wasn't in any real danger whenever she trained with them. Now that she was facing opponents who wouldn't hold back against her, whether it was because of her age or because she was allegedly a "blessed" child of the gods, she had to acknowledge that. Kid actually had something he could teach her, and something extremely valuable at that. She looked Kid directly in the eye and gave him a small nod. "I...I understand," she said firmly. "I'll follow Killer's instructions and learn to  _ properly _ defend myself." Kid glowered at her silently, and she refused to look away as his eyes bored into hers. Her voice was less tense when she spoke again, but still just as firm and resilient. "I was...mistaken in my assumption, and I want to thank you for pointing out the flaws in my argument."

Kid furrowed his brows at her thanks; she was thanking him, again? As she refused to look away from him, he felt a faint flicker of respect for her. She was still a prissy bookworm, but at least she could admit she was wrong about something. He'd known plenty of "academic types" like her that would look down on savage pirates like him, only buckle and turn their tail like meek little pups when he'd confronted and subsequently killed them; it was refreshing to see one of them show a bit of backbone, and realize that they weren't so goddamn perfect without falling apart. He turned around and opened the door to leave. "Thank me tomorrow," he said pointedly, "By going out there and showing me you've got what it takes to be on this crew." He shut the door behind him, leaving Minerva alone once again.

She relaxed her shoulders and took a few deep breaths, and used her Devil Fruit ability to hormonally calm herself. Once she felt at-ease, she set the pot that had been knocked to the floor upright, pulled her blankets out of her trunk for warmth, and crawled into bed to sleep. She had a long day of work ahead of her.


	12. Chapter 12

Minerva felt the early morning sunlight against her eyelids, and she slowly stirred in her bed. When she looked out the nearby window, she could see that the sun had already risen a bit into the sky. She didn't have a clock with her, but by the sun's brightness and position in the sky, she estimated that it was around eight o'clock. She rolled out of bed and quickly smoothed her blankets out before rummaging through her trunk to grab her small toiletries: a comb, a toothbrush, and one of her containers of charcoal powder. After hastily brushing her teeth, she combed and styled her hair into a ponytail with her scarf. She grabbed her first journal in the trunk and a stylus before heading to the kitchen for something to eat.

When she entered the ship's kitchen, she saw that she wasn't alone; Wire was drinking a mug of coffee at the table and Killer was by the stove, cooking something in a pan that made Minerva's stomach rumble. Wire gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement as he drank his coffee. "Morning." Minerva gave him a quick wave and sat down at the table across from Wire.

"Good morning," she said with a small yawn. She turned to look at Killer, who was serving up a platter of eggs and bacon on four plates with silverware; he took one of the full plates and handed it to Minerva . "Oh, thank you Killer," Minerva said politely. She grabbed her fork and carefully examined the food on her plate. "How curious," she mused, peering at the sunny-side up egg on the plate. "I've never eaten an egg prepared this way before…" She poked the yolk with her fork and watched as the yellow liquid slowly spread across the entire egg, and onto her piece of bacon. Minerva took a tentative bite and she raised her eyebrows. "What an interesting texture!" She smiled brightly at Killer. "Is this a common dish, or did you create this method yourself?" She took a few more bites. "Either way, it's very delicious."

Killer leaned back in his chair. "They're just sunny-side up eggs," he replied, slightly bemused; he'd never seen someone so excited over a cooked egg before. "It's a pretty common food, especially on this ship. I'm the one who cooks most of the meals, and it's just easy to throw a bunch of eggs in the pan in the morning."

Minerva noticed that Killer hadn't taken a plate for himself, and was content to sit at the table with nothing to eat. "Are you not going to eat?"

"Not this," Killer replied. "I don't like to have anything that I can't eat through the mask." He tapped the armor covering his face, and Minerva furrowed her brows as she peered at Killer's hidden face.  _ Does he have a respiratory issue? Surely he takes it off while he sleeps, or when he bathes… _ She decided to save her questions about his mask for his physical exam later in the day; if he had a medical condition that required the use of a mask, it would be unethical as his doctor to ask him about it publicly. 

She scribbled down a few of the questions she had for Hawkins when he arrived later that day to speak with her, and as she wrote, she heard the sound of the door behind her opening as Kid and Heat entered. The two of them grabbed a plate of food from the kitchen and sat down at the table to eat; to Minerva's distaste, Kid sat closest to her next to Killer, while Heat poured cups of coffee for himself and his captain. "What're you writing now?" Kid tried to peer at her journal's pages, but he couldn't make heads or tails of her Romoran writing. 

Minerva subtly shifted her chair a few inches away from Kid as he leaned over to look at her journal. "I'm making a list of questions for Basil Hawkins," she said plainly. "Just some inquiries I had about the current state of...well, everything out here." She waved her stylus in a small circle. "Who these 'Marines' are, the powerful ruling bodies and governments in the world, the level of technology that's available to the average person--"

Kid snatched her journal, and Minerva's lips parted in shock as he leafed through it. She reached over to take it back, but he quickly pushed her chair back with his leg as he peered at her indecipherable writing. Minerva glared at him. "You can't even read what I've written," she hissed exasperated.

"I got bored with what you were talking about," he replied nonchalantly, flipping to the first page and looking down at her drawings of the dolphins she'd encountered on her first day at say. "Huh. You drew these?" He glanced up at her and ate a fistful of bacon with his free hand. "Nght bhd."

Minerva crinkled her nose at how he spoke with his mouth full, and she leaned across the table in a futile attempt to take her journal back. "Yes," she replied shortly, "I did. Who else would have? Really, there isn't anything in there that  _ you _ would find interesting; it's just a travel log."

Heat set Kid's mug of coffee down on the table and moved to sit between Wire and Killer before stopping to stare at the next page that Kid had turned to. "Woah, check it out; she drew Kid!"

Wire and Killer looked at each other in surprise, and then rose up to look at her sketch of their captain from behind his chair. Kid was peering intently at the drawing, and Minerva felt her cheeks become warm; she hated it when people looked at her work without permission, and just  _ thinking  _ about her journal in the hands of someone like Kid made her face feel like it was on fire. Heat's eyes drifted to his own sketch on the next page, and he whistled low. "Shit, that looks even better than my wanted poster!"

Minerva fidgeted with her fingers awkwardly and saw Kid peering at how she'd written his name in Romoran and in Nocaligo next to his sketch. After a few seconds, he snapped the book and tossed it back into her lap. "Not bad," he said casually. He smirked and ate a large bite of bacon and eggs. "You fucked up my name, though."

Minerva raised an eyebrow and flipped to the journal page where she had drawn Kid. In both Romoran and Nocaligo, she had labelled the sketch: Eustus Kid. "Oh? Let me correct it then," she said, erasing his name and holding the stylus in between her fingers. Kid spelled out his name in between large mouthfuls of food, and Minerva did her best to transcribe what he was saying in between bites. "Eu-stass," she murmured to herself, trying to pronounce his name properly. "Eu-stass…"

Kid frowned and drank some of his coffee. "I told ya to call me 'Kid'," he said irritably, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 

Minerva shrugged and set her stylus down. "I know...Kid," she replied coolly. It felt very strange to just say his last name, and it rolled awkwardly off of her tongue. She held up her journal with his edited name. "Is this correct?"

Kid nodded and gulped the rest of his coffee. He pointed at a few stray notes underneath his sketch, written in Romoran. "What's this say?"

Minerva turned the journal page around and read what she'd written. "Just a few general notes about you," she responded truthfully. " 'has an ability related to metal manipulation/magnetism', 'incredibly hostile', 'striking resemblance to Mars'..."

Kid raised an eyebrow. "Who the fuck is that?"

Minerva caught her breath, unused to hearing the gods be referred to so disrespectfully. She quickly composed herself and ate one of her last bites of breakfast. "Mars is the Romoran god of war and destruction," she explained. "He's typically depicted in statues and artwork with a large muscular physique, and with scarlet hair similar to yours. You also have a similar…" She trailed off and tried to find the right word to describe the two of them. "A similar aura around you, I suppose. Very...er, fiery. Intimidating."

Kid listened intently to her description, and slowly smirked. Even if he didn't know much about this Mars guy, he liked being compared to  _ any  _ deity of war and destruction. When she said that he had an intimidating air about him, he felt a swell of pride and self-satisfaction; any time someone called him savage, terrifying, anything that struck fear into people's hearts, he loved it. 

Minerva quickly rose up to wash her plate and leave. Kid, noticing that she was headed back to the med bay, washed down the rest of his coffee and tossed his plate in the sink before following her out. "Let's get this exam thing over with," he said. "I want you to take a look at my arm too; something about it's been annoying me lately."

Minerva bristled when she heard his voice behind him, and stiffly nodded. She opened the door to her room and grabbed one of her blank diaries in her trunk to use as a medical journal. After carefully writing Kid's name and the current date, she turned to face Kid. "How old are you?"

Kid walked past her to sit down on her bed. "23," he replied. "Birthday's January 10."

Minerva nodded and wrote in her journal. "Would you happen to know your height and weight? I don't have a scale or anything to measure your height, but an estimate is better than nothing."

Kid shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "Fuck, I dunno," he muttered. "Six foot something." 

Minerva, not satisfied with his approximation of "six foot something", walked towards the bed. "Here, stand in front of me," she said, pointing in front of her. "I can use the difference between the two of us to get a more accurate estimate." Kid rose up, easily towering over her by at least a foot. While she stretched her hand upwards to gauge how much taller he was, he smirked and took the opportunity to glance at the front of her blouse while she was distracted and so close to him. After a few seconds, Minerva stepped back and wrote down her best guess for his height. "Alright," she muttered to herself, "I'm five foot seven, our height difference was roughly 14 inches...so, about six foot nine."

She left his weight blank for now, and made a reminder to add a scale to her list of items for the clinic. "Just to document any medical history, have you had any past surgeries or medical procedures?" She glanced at his mechanical arm, and he sat back down on her bed 

"If getting my fucking arm cut off counts, then yeah," he replied sarcastically. "I made the prosthetic and the socket for it myself."

Minerva raised her eyebrows as she noted his response. Despite his boorish attitude, he definitely wasn't as dim as Minerva had initially thought; to create and attach your own prosthetic is an incredible medical achievement, regardless of the brute doing it. "How exactly did you lose your arm?" 

Kid scowled. "None of your business," he snapped. 

Minerva narrowed her eyes. "I understand if it's an uncomfortable subject," she replied coolly, "But if I'm going to give you proper medical care, it  _ is  _ my business. The treatment for an amputation caused by say, gangrene or an infectious disease, is much different from an amputation caused by a severe burn or explosion." She glanced at his metal arm and then at Kid himself. "Regardless of our past...tensions...I don't want to provide improper treatment to you." 

Kid clenched his jaw and flexed the metal fingers of his hand. He was quiet for a long time, stewing in his frustration. He hated talking about how he lost his arm, and how he got his scar; the fact that he had to acknowledge it, that he showed any kind of weakness...it lit a fire in his throat. "Fucking Shanks," he muttered. He glared up at Minerva. "He sliced it off, and gave me this." He pointed at the scar on his face, and Minerva nodded silently as she wrote down the cause of amputation in his file.

_ Shanks…  _ The name was familiar to her.  _ He's the one that they think I can help them defeat--the Yonkou. Whoever--or whatever--he is, he must be extremely powerful if he could give Eustass such severe wounds. _ She saw the way Kid clenched his fists and glared at her, and noted that the damage Kid had sustained likely wasn't  _ just  _ physical. She decided to continue on with her questions "Do you have any allergies?"

Kid shook his head. 

"Do you know how much you exercise during an average week?"

Kid shrugged. "I do a bunch of heavy lifting and I fight a lot," he replied. "And I like to spar with the crew on days where shit's boring and we can't trash an island since we're out at sea. But it's not a thing I really plan out during the week."

"Hmm...could you estimate how many days out of the week that you fight, whether it's friendly sparring or normal combat?" Minerva knew that fistfights and murder weren't  _ official _ forms of exercise, but it was a form of exercise nonetheless. 

Kid barked out a laugh. "Hell, every day," he replied. 

Minerva added another note to her journal.  _ Daily exercise: sparring and physical combat, every day.  _ "On average, how much alcohol do you drink on a weekly basis?"

Kid scratched his head and considered her question. "...A lot."

Minerva waited for him to continue, but he didn't specify any further. "That's a subjective measure," she replied bluntly. "Think about the bottle you were drinking last night. How many of those could you fill with the amount of alcohol at the end of one week?"

Kid smirked at her and leaned back on her bed. "...A lot."

Minerva rolled her eyes and he snickered as she scribbled down another note.  _ Patient did not provide any accurate measure of weekly alcohol consumption ("A lot"). Try to observe his weekly alcohol consumption to get a more accurate estimate.  _ She set the journal down and hung the now-sterile stethoscope around her neck. "I need you to remove your coat and shirt for the next part of this exam," she said bluntly. 

Kid smirked again and pulled off his coat and shirt. "Don't get too distracted, Doc'," he teased, tossing his clothes onto the floor haphazardly. 

Minerva's expression remained unchanged as she stepped forward and held the stethoscope against his chest. "That won't be a problem," she replied, not picking up on any hidden meaning in his words. "Even if I were distracted by something, I can just use my Fructeus to strengthen my prefrontal and parietal cortices so that I can focus properly." She put the ends of the stethoscope in her ears. "Breathe in and then out, please."

Kid followed her instructions and took a deep breath, annoyed at how his teasing had fallen flat. Minerva listened intently for any abnormal sounds, and then moved the stethoscope slightly to the other side of his chest. "Again." He complied, and then Minerva moved closer to him as she reached around to place the stethoscope against his back; the end of her ponytail swung and brushed his shoulder as she listened to his heartbeat. "One more time."

Kid's eyes wandered down to her backside as he took one more breath; she may have been a weak little know-it-all, but...she was still nice to look at. Minerva pulled back and removed the stethoscope. "Nothing unusual," she murmured to herself. She turned around to set the stethoscope back onto the desk, and Kid took another opportunity to "admire" her from behind.

When she turned around, she stood straight in front of him and held out her hand. "I'm going to examine your brain structure using my Brain Scan ability," she said. "It should only take a minute or so, but I need to touch you in order to get an in-depth look."

Kid bristled. "No fucking way," he protested. "I don't want you rooting around in there." He pointed at his temple. What the hell could she do to him with that Devil Fruit of hers...erase his memories? Control his mind? He wasn't going to give her the chance. 

Minerva rolled her eyes; from what she'd gleaned from her interactions with Kid, she didn't want to "root around" in his head any more than he did. "I won't be manipulating your brain," she replied. "It's just a simple Brain Scan, and it shouldn't take long." She crossed her arms. "Would you rather die from a tumor that I could have found months before it became malignant, or would you rather endure a single minute of this?"

Kid narrowed his eyes, but eventually relented. "If I start to feel just a  _ bit  _ different, I'll fucking--"

"Whatever you're about to threaten me with, I'll keep it in mind," Minerva said glibly. She leaned forward and gently placed her hand on Kid's head. "Try to stand still, please."

When Kid found himself staring directly at Minerva's chest as she leaned over him, he felt much less cagey about this weird "brain scan" thing; at least the view was nice. He briefly glanced up at her eyes as they started to glow pink, and oddly enough, he didn't feel anything as she used her ability to study his brain. She didn't blink throughout the entire time she stared intently at his head, analyzing the image of his brain in her mind.  _ Nothing seriously concerning,  _ she mused.  _ A few signs of a concussion from a few months ago, given how a few of his neural pathways are a bit off-kilter; it looks like he's recovering well though.  _

She narrowed her eyes and focused on one particular part of his brain.  _ His amygdala's got a higher than average sensitivity, which would explain his anger issues.  _ She briefly considered "rectifying" this by using her Rewire ability on his brain, but she knew that as a doctor, she shouldn't lie to her patients; if she said that she would only examine his brain, then that's the only thing she was going to do. Besides, his crewmates would probably notice something was wrong with him if he suddenly started acting polite immediately after leaving her room.

After a minute, her eyes faded back to their usual grey color and she slowly blinked a few times and removed her hand from Kid's head. She quickly sketched and scribbled her scan of Kid's brain in her journal and looked back at Kid.

"I'm going to examine your shoulder prosthetic now," she said. "You mentioned something earlier about your arm annoying you?"

Kid nodded and she went to the sink to wash her hands. "Yeah, it just feels...weird," he replied vaguely. 

"Is there a physical pain, like itching or burning? Simply describing it as 'weird' doesn't narrow down what the issue could be," she replied.

Kid shrugged. "It burns a little, yeah. It's nothing I can't handle, though; it's just a pain in the ass to feel it all day whenever I'm doing other shit."

Minerva dried her hands and sat on the bed next to Kid. "Would you remove your prosthetic? I don't want to mishandle it and risk damaging it somehow." Kid used his Devil Fruit to remove the metal arm, and he set it aside with his other hand. Minerva peered at the area of his amputated shoulder that connected to his metal arm; there was a large metal socket fused to his upper arm that connected to the bulky metal arm. Her eyes widened as she saw how pink and irritated the flesh was around the metal socket, and she looked up at Kid with visible concern. "How often do you clean the area around your prosthetic's socket?" 

Kid shrugged. "I wash it whenever I shower," he replied. "So...about two or three times a week."

"Do you use any kind of disinfectant or ointment, or do you  _ just _ apply soap and water?"

"Soap and water's all you need," he said, confused. "I figured it'll just scab over anyway, so it doesn't really matter what I put on it."

Minerva stared in alarm at the inflamed area of flesh around Kid's prosthetic. "It matters," she replied quickly, rising off of the bed to grab the proper supplies to clean his wound. "It  _ absolutely  _ matters!" She grabbed one of the bottles of disinfectant and some gauze, and poured a small amount onto the clean cloth. She held the gauze above the wound and looked up at Kid. "This is likely going to sting," she warned. 

When she gently dabbed at the wound, Kid's only reaction was a small quick inhale and a slight tensing of his shoulders. The disinfectant bubbled as it made contact with Kid's wound and after a minute or so of tending to it, Minerva tossed the soiled gauze into a wastebasket in a corner of the room. "This is definitely an inflammation, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was also a bacterial infection," she said. "I don't know if any of these unlabeled herbs are an antibiotic, and I don't want to risk giving you something that may make this worse…" She stared at the wound and tried to think of a viable solution with what she had.  _ If I can't apply an antibiotic, I might be able to help his immune system fight the infection with my Fructeus,  _ she reasoned.

She held her hand up to Kid's head, and he caught her wrist with his other arm. "The fuck're you planning?" he growled. "Whatever your Devil Fruit does, I don't want you messing with my head."

Minerva tried to pull her hand back. "I'm not going to hurt you," she replied exasperatedly. "If your wound is inflamed, I can try to stimulate your immune system into fighting the bacterial infection at a much faster rate. It should only take a few seconds for me to do this, I promise."

"You're going to screw around with my brain? Fuck that," Kid snapped. 

"If I were going to kill you, I'd have to face the rest of your crew," Minerva replied, her voice just as heated as Kid's. "We both know that if they discovered that I'd killed you, I wouldn't be able to survive the three of them attacking me at once." She sighed. "If I don't treat this as soon as possible, your wound could become septic; regardless of your strength and your fighting prowess, you  _ will  _ die if this goes untreated."

Kid didn't say anything, but he scowled and let go of her arm. Minerva touched the side of his head with her hand and her eyes glowed pink. She could see the structure of Kid's brain in her mind's eye, and she focused on his thalamus; she heavily stimulated the production of white blood cells that quickly traveled to Kid's bloodstream and within one minute or so, the flesh around Kid's wound was noticeably less pink. Not wanting to overstimulate him, Minerva carefully moved her hand away and looked back at Kid as her eyes faded back to their usual grey color. "Do you feel any different?"

Kid looked down at his shoulder. That annoying itching and burning sensation was present, but it wasn't as present as it was before. "...Better," he muttered. He craned his neck to try and get a proper look at the flesh around his shoulder, and Minerva turned around to quickly scribble down a few potential ideas for treating Kid's arm. 

"Hmm," she mused. "If you start to feel disoriented or lightheaded later today, let me know. I want to try and stimulate the production of your white blood cells over the next few days to help you recover quickly; I don't want to risk overwhelming your brain with too much stimuli at once though, so I'd prefer to err on the side of caution."

Kid leaned back on the bed. "Sure," he replied flatly. He had no idea what white blood cells were, but he  _ did  _ know that whatever she just did, it worked. "I can put my arm back on now, right?"

Minerva nodded. "Yes, you can," she replied. She turned back around after closing the journal. "I don't have the proper equipment to test anything else, so the exam is over." She waved her hand absentmindedly at the door. "Whenever one of the others has some free time, I can examine them later after Hawkins speaks with me." 

Kid scowled as she mentioned Hawkins's name, and he summoned his prosthetic arm before shoving it back into his socket. He climbed off of Minerva's bed and put the rest of his clothes back on, and headed towards the door. When he saw who was standing on his deck, he cursed. "Speak of the fuckin' devil," he muttered. 

Minerva overheard him and peered out the window; Hawkins was standing on the deck of the Victoria Punk, speaking with a few members of his crew that had accompanied him. She grabbed her list of questions for him and followed Kid out to greet the mysterious man.  _ Hopefully I can get some proper information,  _ she thought to herself.  _ I have a feeling that he'll be a much more reliable source than Eustass--er, Kid... _


	13. Chapter 13

When Minerva stepped out with Kid onto the deck, she was eagerly holding her journal in her hands as she greeted Hawkins. "Eust--Captain Kid mentioned that you wished to speak with me?" She caught herself before saying Kid's first name again, and she noticed a small smirk spread on his face after she referred to him as her captain. Hawkins, nonplussed by her calling Kid "captain", gave her a small nod. 

"Your captain insisted that I could only speak to you on his ship and in his presence," he replied smoothly. "I see no issues with this; after all, we all have the same goal." One of his crew members opened the door to the kitchen for him, and Minerva's eyes widened as she stared at them. They seemed to be a large black cat, walking upright and dressed in a very elegant style of clothing. Minerva was fascinated and in awe of this creature; she had read countless Romoran myths referencing nature spirits, and she wondered if she was staring at one in the flesh. She quickly followed behind Hawkins and gave the cat creature a small, respectful bow before entering the kitchen. Kid noticed her odd behavior and followed behind her.

Hawkins's cat companion went to make a pot of tea, and Minerva settled across from where Hawkins had taken a seat. Kid leaned against the wall and watched the two of them; Minerva seemed a lot less tense and pissy compared to how she'd been around him. "You mentioned that you were from Romora," Hawkins started. "An island that hasn't been referenced to in over 800 years. How has the kingdom managed to avoid detection for so long?"

"During a war between a collection of various hostile nations, Romorans were reluctant to pick a side and share the kingdom's store of knowledge with either side," Minerva explained. "In order to protect their research from being used for the selfish ends of those warring factions, the Emperor consulted with the nation's best scientists to find a way to isolate Romora from the rest of the world." She folded her hands into a circle. "There's a particular dense Mist that surrounded the island, and a group of geologists discovered that it gravitated towards areas that had high levels of Prisma--what you would call 'Sea Prism Stone'. One of our islands, Serpentrio, has a large quantity of natural Prisma. The Emperor ordered the nation's construction workers and architects to construct giant pillars of Prisma and then lower them into the ocean around the radius of the kingdom." She created a small Myelin Shield and covered her hand-circle with it for emphasis. "The Mist created a dense layer of protection that covered the perimeter of the entire island, and we've remained isolated for hundreds of years."

Hawkins folded his hands into a tent and slowly nodded. "This Mist…" He drew a few of his tarot cards and placed them on the table and peered down at them. "The Hermit, The Moon, and The Tower. Isolation, mystery, illusions, and disaster." He looked back up at Minerva. "What properties does this Mist have?"

Minerva shifted uncomfortably. Her harrowing night in the Mist was still fresh in her mind, and thinking about what that fog could do made her feel  _ incredibly _ anxious. She did her best to shake off the unease creeping up her spine and took a small breath.  _ This is a normal reaction to a traumatic event, _ she reminded herself.  _ The best way to diminish these feelings is to carefully expose yourself to them; talking about the Mist could actually help me in that regard.  _ "The Mist disorients anyone who encounters it, like any normal fog. However, it also affects people psychologically; someone exposed to the Mist will experience auditory hallucinations, even if they're exposed to low levels. Common symptoms include nausea, auditory hallucinations, vertigo and general loss of balance, etcetera." She crossed her arms and rubbed her thumb against the inside of her other arm. "Long-term exposure will often result in some kind of mental breakdown, typically catatonia," she continued quietly. She had seen countless incidents over the years where careless fishermen or foolish teenagers had wandered into a dense area of Mist, only to return completely shaken as they muttered incoherently (or were completely silent) and stared straight ahead with wide, glassy eyes--that is, if they were ever found at all. 

Hawkins slipped his three cards into his sleeve and looked across at her. "You already know why Kid and I rescued you, I imagine?" 

Minerva crossed her legs underneath the table. "I know that it has something to do with a person that you two want to kill," she replied slowly, "But I'm not quite sure  _ how  _ I'm meant to help you achieve that goal." She furrowed her brows. "Whatever divination method you use, these...these cards--" she gestured to Hawkins's sleeve where he'd tucked away his tarot spread-- "Did you learn anything specific from your prediction?"

Hawkins pursed his lips gently. "The cards only informed me that my... _ our _ chances of defeating a Yonkou would be significantly higher if I journeyed to this part of Paradise along the Grand Line. I had my reservations about journeying this far for something so vague, but my cards have never led me astray." 

Minerva absentmindedly tapped her fingers against her journal. "This Yonkou," she started, "It seems like a sort of title; the term translates to 'Emperor' in Nocaligo, yes? Are they some form of royalty?"

"They're pirates," Kid replied with a scowl. It was so strange for him to hear someone ask what a Yonkou was; how the hell do you not know the strongest group of pirates out there? "Four of 'em. They're the strongest ones out there, and rule over their territories like kings."

Minerva nodded and scribbled into her notebook. "And what are the names and abilities of these four Yonkou?"

Hawkins reached into his coat pocket and pulled out four pieces of folded paper. "I managed to find their wanted posters for you," he replied, setting the worn papers on the table and pushing them towards her. "If you really are going to help us defeat one of them, you should know what they look like, at the very least."

Minerva's eyes widened and she carefully unfolded the posters. She had only ever read documents written in Nocaligo in her and her father's textbooks; seeing actual, real-life examples of it left her breathless as she examined the slope and curve of every familiar letter. Even if they were a commonplace item to these pirates, Minerva handled them as if they were made of gold. She smiled brightly at Hawkins. "Thank you," she said quietly, "I...these are  _ very  _ useful." She examined the four images on the posters, noting that the outside world had a form of technology that could capture photographs, just like in Romora. She quickly jotted down a few notes related to what this technology could be, and she went back to looking at the faces in these photographs.

The one that immediately drew her eye was an older woman with pink hair and a very bright pink dress, Charlotte "Big Mom" Linlin. By the scale of the background around her, she had to be gigantic--at least 15 to 20 feet tall! Was it common in this world to encounter humans this tall? _She might have an extreme form of gigantism,_ she mused. _Perhaps there's_ _a group of humans who have developed incredibly large pituitary glands...If her strength stems from her size, and her size is based off of her brain structure, I can see how my Devil Fruit could weaken her. Hmm…_ "This woman, Big Mom," she said, pointing at her photo. "Do you know what abilities she has?"

Kid let out a small annoyed grunt; after how that old hag had "forcibly escorted" his crew out of her territory, just hearing her name pissed him off. Then again, what  _ didn't  _ piss Kid off? "She's got Conqueror's and Armament Haki, for one," he muttered bitterly. "I know that for a fuckin' fact."

Minerva cocked her head and scribbled down this new term. "Haki...What is this?"

"A series of techniques that are only used by particularly powerful people, typically with intense long-term training," Hawkins replied smoothly. "A person is born with an aptitude for Conqueror's Haki, however; it isn't something that anyone can potentially learn. It's used as an extension of a user's willpower, and can channel that willpower into a kind of weapon through various applications and attacks."

Minerva furrowed her brows. From how Hawkins had described it, this Conqueror's Haki seemed similar to an ability back home, usually used by high-ranking Romoran soldiers and those who were said to be "blessed" by Mars, Jupiter, and a few other deities. And 'Armament Haki', if it was another kind of technique, sounded like Telum Deos--the 'Armor of the Gods' technique that was also widely used by notable soldiers in Romora. She wrote a quick note into her journal:  _ "Conqueror's Haki--related to Voluntatem Deos? Armament Haki--Telum Deos?" _

She glanced at the other Yonkou's photos, noting that all but one of them were much taller than the average Romoran based on their surroundings.  _ Does size really correlate to power for these pirates?  _ The one exception seemed to be the Yonkou known as "Red Hair" Shanks, who looked like a relatively normal man. She wondered how he had received the distinctive scar over one of his eyes. Hawkins pointed at his photo. "This is the one we're targeting," he said to Minerva. "Red Hair Shanks."

Kid spat on the floorboards and glared down at his feet, and Minerva remembered that Kid had mentioned this pirate before; he was apparently the man who'd severed his arm.  _ It seems foolish to target someone so powerful solely in an act of revenge,  _ she thought to herself. She looked over at Hawkins. "Is there any reason why you chose him as your target?" Before Kid could open his mouth, she quickly added to her question. "Apart from any personal reasons, I mean."

Hawkins tented his fingers. "Despite his strength, he's one of the more isolated Yonkou compared to the others," he explained. He extended two slender fingers towards Kaido and Big Mom's posters. "Both Kaido and Big Mom have an extensive network of allies, and their own crews are already incredibly large. Kaido is currently living in the isolated country of Wano, and there are very few known methods for travelers to enter. Big Mom's kingdom is massive, making up multiple islands that are protected and watched over by her numerous children. If we were to invade her territory, we wouldn't have a chance of slipping in unnoticed."

Minerva nodded and glanced at Big Mom's poster. "So in order to reach her, any attempts at stealth would be pointless without a clear advantage," she mused. "Besides, she's already interacted with Eu--with Kid's crew, so she would recognize their ship. I see…" She moved her hand to Blackbeard's poster. "And this one?"

Hawkins's cat crewmate gently set down a mug for his captain, and one in front of Minerva. Her eyebrows shot up; she was being  _ served  _ by a nature spirit...or...well, what she assumed was a nature spirit? This was definitely a rare honor! She folded her hands together and bowed her head when the cat creature poured her tea after serving his captain. The cat smiled politely at her and poured another cup for Kid, but he waved it away; the cat shrugged and sat down with the mug of tea to drink for himself.

Hawkins sipped his tea and looked down at Blackbeard's poster. "He is...enigmatic," he said carefully. "Ever since his appearance at the Battle for Marineford, he's kept a low profile. He's incredibly powerful, and somehow he seems to have developed a way to consume two Devil Fruits and use their abilities."

Minerva's eyes widened. "He ate two Fructei and survived? Not only that, but he can actually use both of them?" Even if they were rare, Romorans knew that someone who'd consumed a Fructeus couldn't eat another without meeting a very gruesome end; because a Fructeus is a gift from the gods, it was considered insolent and greedy to take more than one gift from them. "How?"

"Nobody knows," Kid said. "After he killed Whitebeard, he covered up the body and when he came back from under that tarp, he had the old man's Devil Fruit ability."

Minerva furiously scribbled into a new page of her journal, eager to learn more about this mysterious Yonkou. "A tarp and a corpse," she muttered, chewing on the end of her stylus. "So whatever this process is, it involves the body of the previous Fructeus owner and may need to be hidden…" She looked at Kid and then at Hawkins. "Was he the only one underneath it with this 'Whitebeard'? Were you able to look at the corpse's state afterwards? And did you actually  _ see  _ him eat the Fructeus?"

"Doesn't matter," Kid said shortly. "Shanks is the one we're going after; the only one you should be asking about is him."

"Considering the fact that neither of you know how I'm supposed to help you," she replied bluntly, "You don't know whether or not this information will be useful. Besides, all knowledge is good knowledge." 

Kid clenched his jaw and glared at her. "Is that any way to talk to your captain?"

Minerva calmly sipped her tea. "It would be an insult  _ not  _ to criticize you," she replied matter-of-factly. "Is it not better for you, as a leader, to receive criticism than to continue following a flawed line of reasoning?"

Kid narrowed his eyes and scowled silently at her, and Hawkins's companion spoke up. "To answer your questions," he began, "Blackbeard  _ was  _ the only one underneath the tarp, but his crewmates seemed to understand what was going on. Afterwards, Whitebeard's corpse looked the same as when he'd died, and…" He rubbed his cheek thoughtfully with one of his paws. "You know, we  _ didn't  _ see him actually eat Whitebeard's Devil Fruit; when he came out again, he showed us what had happened by using Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi."

Minerva eagerly wrote his answers into her journal and gave him a small bow from her seat. "Thank you," she replied politely. She was silent for a moment. "Er...This is an off-topic question, but are you a nature spirit?"

Everyone in the room stared at her. Minerva awkwardly traced the rim of her cup. "There are myths and legends in Romora that involve anthropomorphic creatures," she explained, "And I've never encountered someone with your features, so my only guess is that you're one of these nature spirits." She sipped her tea again. 

The humanoid cat shook his head. "Ah, right, you wouldn't know what we are," he mused. He adjusted the ruffles of his shirt with his paws. "I can't imagine there are any of us in Romora. I'm a Mink. We're an ancient tribe comprised of many different animals, but we're more evolved than our counterparts." He gave her a small bow. "My name is Faust."

Minerva wrote another entry in her journal about this new race.  _ Perhaps the nature spirits in Romoran myth were actually Minks that journeyed to the kingdom,  _ she theorized,  _ but over the course of our isolation, information about them became warped to fit our mythology… _ "I see," she said slowly. She smiled as she wrote Faust's name, and looked up at the Mink. "You know, in Romoran, 'Faustus' is a word that means 'good luck'. An interesting coincidence, given the connotation with misfortune that black cats have."

Faust smirked and lapped at his tea, and Minerva looked back at Hawkins. "Back to these Yonkou," she continued.  _ I need to try to stay focused; there'll be plenty of time to learn more about these other subjects later.  _ She glanced sideways at Kid, who was audibly jiggling his foot as he leaned against the wall.  _ Besides, Eustass seems anxious for Hawkins to leave soon.  _ "What abilities does Shanks have?"

Hawkins looked over at Kid. "Perhaps you should answer her," he said. "I've only learned about him from secondhand accounts, but you've interacted with him personally."

Kid glared at Hawkins; he hadn't 'interacted' with Shanks--he'd gotten his fucking arm cut off by that bastard! "You fucking--"

"Are you the one who gave him this scar?" Minerva interrupted. She had barely noticed Kid's outburst as she focused on Shanks's photo, her mind buzzing with questions and theories. "I...Oh, his arm…" She peered at the lower half of his wanted poster; she hadn't even noticed that Shanks, like Kid, was missing one of his arms. "Did you sever his arm?" 

"No," Kid replied heatedly. "Dunno who managed to do  _ that _ ; he's a hard fucker to try and get close to, I'll tell ya that." He crossed his arms. "Whoever they are, I wanna buy 'em a drink and then take 'em on myself."

Minerva frowned and narrowed her eyes.  _ If he couldn't defeat Shanks, why in the world would he want to fight someone who managed to wound him so severely? He'd  _ **_definitely_ ** _ lose that battle!  _ She drank a bit of her tea and glanced back at Shanks's poster.  _ Then again, strategy and proper logic doesn't seem to be his strong suit… _ "Do you know if Shanks is able to use any kind of Haki? Or if he has a Devil Fruit?"

Kid shrugged. "Not a Devil Fruit user," he replied. "But he's definitely got Conqueror's Haki, and he knows how to use it better than anyone else I've fought."

Minerva rested her hand under her chin. "If this Conqueror's Haki is the same as what my people call Voluntatem Deos, then I could see how my ability might be useful," she mused. "Keep in mind, this is only a theory based on what little information I have."

Hawkins and Kid looked at her curiously, ready to hear her thoughts. 

Minerva cleared her throat. "I've studied dozens of academic papers of Romoran research, specifically in the field of neuroscience," she said. Kid raised an eyebrow, and she motioned towards her head. "The study of the brain," she explained. "My knowledge of that field is why I'm able to use my Fructeus so well. Anyway, there have been multiple studies that focus on the brains of users with these forms of what you call Haki." She turned to a blank journal page and quickly sketched a quick diagram of a brain, and Kid walked over to look down at her drawing; whatever she was about to explain, a visual aid was definitely going to help him understand what the hell she was talking about.

"Several CAT scans--ah, medical scans of the brain, using a special machine--have shown that when someone uses Conqueror's Haki, there's a significant amount of brain activity in the prefrontal cortex." She tapped the area of the diagram with her stylus. "This area is primarily responsible for decision-making and willpower. There are a few different theories as to why this area is stimulated when an individual uses Conqueror's Haki, but I personally believe that it has to do with exerting someone's willpower so strongly that it can affect the people around them. There's another common theory that--"

"Just get to the fucking point," Kid snapped. "We don't need a fucking science lesson, just tell us how you can take him out."

Minerva glared at him. "It's fairly obvious," she replied icily, "But if I used my Rewire ability on Shanks, then I could hypothetically prevent him from using his Conqueror's Haki." 

Kid's eyes widened. If Shanks couldn't use his Conqueror's Haki in any way, then he'd have a much better chance of defeating him. If that bastard hadn't been able to catch him off guard by disorienting him with that aura of his, he could've been able to turn that fight around! Minerva peered at Shank's poster. "Although…" She leaned back in her chair. "Given his reputation, I can't imagine that his proficiency with Conqueror's Haki is the only factor that makes him difficult to defeat. Even if he doesn't have a Devil Fruit, he would likely still be a major threat." She frowned and crossed her arms. "For example, if he also knows how to use Oculi Deos--'the eyes of the gods'-- He may be able to predict my attack before I have a chance to Rewire his brain. And either way, I would need to somehow approach him at close range without alerting my presence or rousing suspicion."

Hawkins sipped the last of his tea and thumbed the handle of the mug as he mulled over what she'd said. "It could be useful," he conceded, "But I don't believe that my cards would guide me to you, simply for you to sneak up behind Shanks to use that ability. The cards told me that you would provide a significant advantage to anyone who wished to defeat a Yonkou; a plan like that, which hinges on factors likely out of our control...it doesn't make sense."

Kid scoffed and leaned on the table. "The fuck are you talking about?" He gestured towards Minerva. "She can take away one of Shanks's main weapons. We can take advantage of him not knowing what's keeping him from using his Haki and kill him before he can compensate without it. How is that  _ not  _ a 'significant advantage'?"

Minerva's eyes narrowed a bit.  _ There's something off about this message that Hawkins received,  _ she thought. There was a nagging thought in the back of her head, as if there was something she'd overlooked that was right in front of her.  _ Perhaps we're examining this 'prophecy' from the wrong angle.  _

"Is there any chance that your prophecy could be incorrect?" Minerva saw Hawkins's posture become subtly rigid, and Faust glanced at his captain from his spot in the kitchen. "Did you cross-reference your cards with any other methods of--"

"My cards are  _ never  _ wrong," Hawkins insisted quietly, but firmly. There was a steel behind his words that Minerva wasn't expecting. She looked down and peered intently at the four wanted posters.  _ Whenever the Oracles in Romora received a vision or a prophecy, they were just as vague as this one, usually more so. Even if they attempted to cross-reference their predictions with other form of divination, there was rarely anything concrete enough to consider it a true prediction of the future... _ She rubbed her temples and sighed.  _ Ugh, why do these prophecies have to be so vague in how they're worded!? _

As she moved her eyes from one poster to the other, her eyes slowly widened. "What was the  _ exact  _ wording of this prediction that your cards gave you?" 

Hawkins raised an eyebrow. "The probability of success in defeating a Yonkou will rise to 90 percent, once they retrieve the great boon that will lie between the Misty Sea and San Faldo Island when they arrive." After saying it out loud, realization spread across his face and his lips parted slightly. When their eyes met, Minerva nodded knowingly; she knew that he'd just come to the same conclusion. Kid stared at the two of them, completely lost and frustrated at being the only one not in on what was going on.

" _ A  _ Yonkou," Minerva repeated pointedly. "Your prophecy stated that I could improve the chances of defeating  _ a  _ Yonkou. We've been operating under the assumption that Shanks was the one that it was referring to, but we have a 75 percent chance of being wrong; there are four of them to choose from, and I may only be able to provide this 'great boon' to one specific Yonkou."

Hawkins pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner," he murmured, slightly irritated with himself. How could he have overlooked this? He absentmindedly brought out his deck of cards and shuffled them in his hands absentmindedly as a way to relieve some of his stress and annoyance. 

Kid narrowed his eyes at Minerva. "You saying that Hawkins's prophecy was full of shit? That you might not even be able to help us kill Shanks?" 

Hawkins glared at Kid out of the corner of his eye; even if he'd potentially misinterpreted them, his cards were  _ not  _ "full of shit." Minerva shook her head at Kid. "Not exactly," she replied. "According to this prophecy, I can greatly improve the chances of defeating a Yonkou, but it didn't specifically say that Yonkou was Shanks. It  _ could  _ be referencing him, but then again, it  _ could  _ be referencing one of the other three." She faced Hawkins. "Would you be able to determine which Yonkou this prophecy is referring to by using your cards multiple times? If they're based off of probability, then you could simply determine the likelihood that I'm meant to help you two defeat Shanks."

Hawkins nodded and tucked a wavy strand of his long blond hair behind his ear. "Yes, I can," he confirmed. "And even if you aren't able to help us kill Shanks with your abilities, we can simply change our target to the other Yonkou mentioned by--"

" **_No_ ** ."

Hawkins, Faust, and Minerva looked at Kid. His voice was low and filled with barely restrained ferocity, and his nonmetal hand was shaking with rage. "We're going after Shanks," he insisted. He pointed at Hawkins. "The only fucking reason I joined up with you was to kill  _ him.  _ Not Big Mom, not Blackbeard, not Kaido--Shanks.  _ That's  _ who we're going after, end of fucking story." He glared at Hawkins, silently daring the pirate to defy him. Hawkins merely sipped his tea again and examined his cards, and Kid stormed to the door leading to the deck. He looked back one more time to scowl at Minerva and Hawkins. "No matter what your prophecy says, he's who we're going after," he declared, pointing at Hawkins. "If you want to go after another Yonkou, then this alliance is over. You can fuck off to wherever you like, just stay outta my way. And don't expect to take  _ her  _ with you." He moved his hand to point at Minerva. "She's part of  _ this  _ crew.  _ My  _ fucking crew." His voice was harsh and venomous. "Got it?"

Hawkins nodded and continued to examine his tarot cards. Kid looked over at Minerva again as he opened the door. "Get back to the med bay and give Killer his physical in the next hour," he ordered firmly. "Once you're done, he'll get to work training you on the outer deck." 

Before she could respond, Kid slammed the door behind him. Minerva glared at where he'd stood and crossed her arms. "He would sacrifice my potential advantage to him," she said in disbelief, "All over a grudge…" She sighed and rose up out of her seat to place her cup in the sink. "Unbelievable!" Hawkins continued to examine his cards as he rose up and walked out with Faust to head back to their own ship. 

Minerva held the door open for them and gave them a quick goodbye before heading to the med bay. Once she was inside, she could hear the muffled sounds of various metal objects crashing into one another and Kid's gruff voice as he cursed in his captain's quarters nearby. She shook her head as she took out her medical tools and laid them on the table before leaving to find Killer. _Of all the people to get kidnapped by and forced to join,_ she thought bitterly, _It just had_ _to be a violent, spiteful brute with no sense of strategy._ She left the med bay and rolled her eyes. _Even the Mist wasn't this maddening!_


	14. Chapter 14

Minerva found Killer in one of the hallways of the Victoria Punk. "Ah, there you are," she greeted. "Kid asked--well,  _ ordered  _ me to give you your physical exam as soon as possible."

Killer nodded silently and the two of them headed to the med bay. "He also said that afterwards, you would give me my first lesson in practical fighting," she said, glancing at him. She wasn't sure what kind of training Killer had in mind; would he want her to learn hand-to-hand combat first, or would there be melee weapons involved? She had many academic interests, but combat wasn't really one of her passions. 

"Yeah," he replied. "He was pretty adamant about wanting you to learn to properly defend yourself as soon as possible." He remembered when Kid had pulled him aside the night before and firmly told him that Minerva would be learning how to fight from him.

_ "She's never been in a real fuckin' fight before," he'd grumbled, shaking his head in disbelief and disappointment. "And  _ **_she's_ ** _ gonna be the one to help me kill Shanks. Fuckin'..." He glared out at the sea and nighttime sky, and looked back at Killer. "You think you can get her to actually last a few minutes on her own?" _

_ Killer shrugged. "I'd have to see what she can really do first," he replied. "I'm not a teacher, you know." _

_ "You're the closest thing we've got," Kid countered. He counted on his metal fingers. "Heat's main way to fight is with his fire shit, which isn't teachable. Wire'd need a chalkboard or a pen or something to really teach her with more than one word at a time, and I'm not the teachin' type." _

_ Killer chuckled. "What do you mean? You're impatient as all hell and have no idea how to hold back," he replied sarcastically.  _

_ Kid playfully punched Killer's shoulder with his nonmetal hand. "Exactly, asshole," he replied with a smirk. "You'll do fine. Besides, if she fails to pick it up, it's her own fault. If she can learn all sorts of medical shit and…" He waved away his arm dismissively. "Science and literature n' shit, she should be able to learn how to fight." He absentmindedly reached into his pocket to fiddle with the top of his DenDen Mushi's shell and then headed off to his room to sleep, leaving Killer alone on the outer deck to enjoy the view and think about what to teach his new crewmate first… _

Minerva and Killer walked into the med bay and she invited him to sit on her bed during the exam. The first few minutes went well, and after she'd written down his answers she had asked him to take his mask off. When Killer immediately refused, she raised an eyebrow. "Do you use the mask because of a respiratory issue?" If removing his mask would put his health in danger, she could understand why he would deny her. 

Killer shook his head. "No," he replied quietly, crossing his arms. "I don't like having people see my face." 

"If you're self-conscious about any scarring or deformity, there's no need to be," Minerva replied simply. "I'm not here to judge your appearance, I'm here to determine your health."

"I get that," Killer replied bluntly, "But there's nothing wrong medically with my head or my face. I don't need to take it off."

Minerva frowned. "You don't know that for certain," she replied bluntly. "But…" She fiddled with her stylus in between her fingers as she considered how she could properly examine Killer without having to remove his mask. "If you insist on keeping it on, then I'll move on and examine you with my Fructeus." She tucked her stylus on top of her ear and held her hand over Killer's head, and he caught her wrist. He still didn't know what her ability was, and he wasn't keen on finding out by having her use it on him like this.

"What will you do with it, exactly?" Killer's voice was tense, but not hostile.

Minerva gently pulled her hand back. "All I'm going to do is analyze your brain structure," she replied, hoping that she wouldn't get this reaction from every member of the crew when she examined them. "You won't feel anything and it should only take one minute or so." She carefully outstretched her hand again. "I examined Kid the exact same way without a problem."

Killer was hesitant for a moment, but after a few seconds of silence he nodded and let her place her hand on the top of his head. He watched through his mask as her eyes glowed pink, and then back to grey after finishing her examination. She sketched his brain from a few different points of view and added some notes next to them, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary judging by her calm and collected expression. Killer wondered what she could really see with her Devil Fruit; he'd seen the inside of someone's skull before, but the gore found on a battlefield was a far cry from seeing someone's brain in a setting like this. 

The rest of the exam went on without incident, and after stowing her tools and journal she followed Killer to the outside deck. He reached into his pants pocket and tied his hair into a ponytail. "What kind of training have you had, exactly?" 

"I've learned some basic hand-to-hand combat," Minerva replied. "And I know how to shoot a bow and arrow, but I was taught to hunt game; using one against a human is something I'm not used to." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I've also shot a  _ flectit _ \--ah, what you would call a firearm or rifle--a few times, but only at man-made targets." 

Killer rolled up his shirt sleeves. "For now, let's just stick to hand-to-hand then," he replied. "Bows and arrows aren't likely to measure up well against guns out here, and there's nothing to use for target practice on board if I found a rifle for you." 

Minerva nodded. "That makes sense," she replied thoughtfully. "If I need to use a ranged attack in the future, I can just use my Axon Whip then. I have less variety when it comes to close-quarters combat, so I'd prefer to focus on that first."

Killer stood and motioned for her to come forward. "I want to see what you can do already," he said. "Try to attack me."

Minerva took a deep breath, and was so focused on her lesson that she had failed to notice Kid watching the two of them nearby. She rushed forward to punch Killer with her left hand; he easily caught her wrist and was about to pin her to the nearby wall, but she quickly switched tactics and summoned an Axon Whip in her right hand as pretended to swing at Killer's head. When he raised his arm to block her, the end of the Axon Whip slapped against his bare forearm. She was able to give him a small electric shock when it collided with his skin, and he felt all of the muscles in his face and upper body clench involuntarily and burn with a brief-yet-sharp pain. The ends of his hair stood on end, and he had to fight to keep himself from biting his tongue off as the electricity coursed through his body. His grip on her wrist tightened and Minerva used his brief moment of paralysis to punch him as hard as she could in the stomach, but her blow was slightly weakened due to the awkward angle of her body as Killer held her wrist.

Killer grunted and felt a bit winded from her punch, but he didn't falter or let go of her. The pain of the electric shock faded and within seconds, he'd regained control of his limbs. She tried to kick one of his shins to get him to let go of her wrist, but he took the hit; her kick was focused, but lacking the strength needed to really affect him aside from giving him a dull, throbbing pain where her foot collided with his leg. Killer took advantage of her slightly off-kilter balance thanks to her kick and shoved her forward, and she quickly wrapped her legs around his to pull him down with her. 

The two of them landed on the floor with a thud, but Minerva cushioned most of the pain that Killer would've felt from the fall as her back collided with the wooden deck. She winced and struggled to keep her legs around Killer's lower half to prevent him from moving freely, but he managed to break free and responded by grabbing her other hand and pinning both of her hands to her sides. 

Realizing she'd been defeated, she relaxed her body and looked up at Killer. "Impressive," she remarked. "Do you have any notes for me, or how I can improve?"

Killer let go of her arms and helped her up. "Your reflexes are decent, but not quick enough," he replied bluntly. "It was clever though, using that punch as a feint to hit me with that whip of yours." Minerva massaged the area of her arm where he had pinned her as he continued. "Apart from that whip, your hits didn't have that much force behind them. That's pretty common with people who don't have much combat experience; I'd start by having you train until you can effectively throw a punch with a strong and consistent level of power."

Minerva nodded. "I see," she replied pensively, putting a hand to her chin. "If reaction time is an issue, I could use my Rewire before entering a fight." She held her hand to her head and her eyes glowed pink as she stimulated her cerebellum, improving her coordination, and her parietal lobe to improve her overall senses. Instantly, the sounds around her became more vivid and her surroundings seemed much clearer than before; she could hear every creak of the ship and the sound of someone standing on the wood behind her. She turned around and saw Kid watching her and Killer, and she frowned at him. "How long have you been here?"

Kid smirked. "Long enough," he replied. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Don't stop now, I wanna see what you can do. Try not to get pinned again so fast this time."

Minerva rolled her eyes and turned back to face Killer. When she saw Killer put his arms up, she quickly took note of every muscle that was tensed. Her eyes flitted up and down his body, and even though only a few seconds had passed, a thousand thoughts had already run through her head.  _ He's taken a defensive posture, raising his arms in a position to easily block a punch.  _ She rushed forward with a swift kick towards his shins, and at the same time, she summoned a thin Axon Whip that she coiled around the fingers of her hand. Killer moved his leg back and went to block her punch. The moment his hand caught hers, the muscles in his arm tensed and tightened from the electric shock of her Whip; he immediately let go of her to get control of his arm back, and shot down to sweep Minerva's leg to knock her off-balance. Thanks to her enhanced senses, she could see how Killer telegraphed his movement when he started to bend down, and she interrupted him by quickly placing her electrified hand against his throat. The sudden shock immediately acted as a taser, and Killer's vision became spotty for a few moments as his jaw locked and he staggered back before falling onto the floor. 

Kid raised his eyebrows as he watched Killer hit the deck flat on his ass. For someone as green as her to manage to get that good of a hit in was...actually kind of impressive. If she could improve her fighting skills so quickly with her Devil Fruit, then she might actually be a decent asset to the crew in a fight after all. 

Initially Minerva wanted to reach down and help Killer up, but she realized that until she had completely pacified him, the fight wasn't over. She used her other hand to create another thin Axon Whip and wrapped it around Killer's waist and arms, paralyzing him and tying him up at the same time. Once he was bound, she ripped the Axon Whips from her hand to get rid of the electrical charge, wincing as she tore the fleshy rope from her palms.

Minerva knelt down at Killer's level. "Are you injured?" She went to untie the ropes around him and gave him a sheepish grin. "In a real battle, I'd make my Whips a bit thicker for a stronger electrical charge; I didn't want to risk severely hurting you, though." Killer helped her remove the Whips wrapped around him, and he stood up to dust himself off. 

"Whatever you did with your Devil Fruit, it definitely helped your reaction time," he replied, rotating one of his sore shoulders. "If we're ambushed though, you'll need to be able to do it on short notice. It took you about ten seconds to use that Rewire technique, and in a fight every second counts." 

Minerva nodded firmly. "I'll try to reduce the time it takes to stimulate those areas," she assured. She winced and covered her eyes from the overly bright afternoon sun, and tried to block out the cacophony of sounds all around her; her improved senses may help her in battle, but it made her much more sensitive to sensory input. "And...I should also focus on maintaining this level of stimulation for longer and longer periods." She grimaced as a few seagulls flew by, squawking loudly enough to make her eardrums ring slightly. "I won't be able to fight for longer periods if I'm trying to cope with sensory overload at the same time."

She quickly Rewired her brain to return her cerebellum and parietal lobe to their default states, and instantly the world seemed less bright and loud around her. When she finished, she gave Killer a respectful nod. "Thank you for helping me improve my combat skills," she said with a small smile. "I look forward to learning more from you."

Killer gave her a short thumbs-up in reply, and put his hands up again. Minerva cocked her head, and he motioned for her to start another round. "Even with that ability, you still need to work on giving your hits more power," he insisted. "There could always be a situation where you might not be able to use that Rewire technique, and you need to be prepared to fight without having the chance to use it."

Minerva nodded sagely. "A fair point," she mused. "It's always best to have a redundancy plan, after all." She smiled brightly at her new mentor, impressed by his sound reasoning; considering he was part of Kid's crew, his sense of strategy was a pleasant surprise after what she'd seen of their captain. 

As she began to practice throwing punches, striking wherever Killer told her to, Kid watched her quietly. Her first few hits were clearly weak but after a few minutes, Kid could tell by the sound of her fist impacting Killer's arm and covered midsection that she was getting the hang of it. Kid let his eyes glaze over as he watched her, and the sound of Killer's words and her punches became a weirdly calming white noise to him. Considering how bloodthirsty he was, it wasn't that surprising that he'd find the sound of punches soothing. He saw the determination on Minerva's face as she struck Killer, and the way her eyes narrowed a bit as she listened and focused on his advice.  _ She's green, but at least she's eager to learn,  _ Kid mused.  _ She should be able to hold her own with the rest of us in no time.  _ He smirked at the image of her and the rest of the crew, looking comically out of place fighting alongside the Kid Pirates's heavy metal-and-blood aesthetic with her flowy hair and soft features. His thoughts wandered to what she'd look like after a fight, covered with sweat and blood, her hair wild and sticking to her face as she struck some hapless weakling with that weird electric whip of hers. The thought left Kid eager to see her in an actual fight soon, and...huh. Why did his face feel warm all of a sudden? He frowned as his daydream faded away, tugging at his shirt collar a bit for some air.  _ Ugh, are we near a summer island or something?  _ He peeled off his dark coat before heading to the kitchen to get some water and settling back down on the deck to watch Killer and Minerva spar some more. He hated the heat, but he liked watching his crewmates fight even more--and his soft, nerdy, know-it-all doctor was definitely no exception.   
  



	15. Chapter 15

Over the next few weeks, Minerva had settled into a routine onboard the Victoria Punk. The implementation of a schedule made her life seem slightly less chaotic, and the structure was a small comfort to her. She had learned quite a bit about the outside world from her crewmates, and her notebook was filled with various entries about everything she'd learned about this new world.

"Day 32," Minerva said with a yawn, blinking drowsily out the window by her bed as the afternoon sun shone in the sky. It was rare for her to have such a long nap, but she definitely wasn't complaining. "Yesterday, Eustass said that we were close to an island that the Kid Pirates use as a 'base camp' of sorts along the Grand Line. He and Hawkins have arranged a meeting with another pirate interested in joining their alliance, a man named Scratchman Apoo."

She rubbed her eyes and set the recorder down on her bed while she got dressed. "Eustass seems apprehensive about letting him join, but he's still agreed to hear him out during this meeting." She slipped one of her tunics over her head and a simple pair of shorts and sandals. "Still, he insisted that until Apoo officially joins their alliance, that he and Basil won't reveal the real reason I'm with them; instead of explaining Basil's prophecy, they both agreed to simply say that I'm the doctor for the Kid Pirates and leave it at that." She combed her hair and used her scarf to tie it. "At first I assumed that Basil was the one who suggested this to Eustass, but it was actually the other way around." 

Minerva sat back down on her bed next to the recorder. "Sometimes I think that he's more clever than he seems," she mused. "Even if he's a crude and violent man, Eustass will have these rare fleeting moments of wisdom that really surprise me." She sighed after a short pause and rolled her eyes. "And then, after showing some of that hidden wisdom or strategy, he'll ask about what kind of 'nerd shit' I've been writing into my notebook and then  _ snatch  _ it out of my hands to read...upside down." She crinkled her nose. "I know he can't tell the difference between Romoran words written properly and ones written upside down, but still…'nerd shit?' Ugh, he is so--"

The sound of her door opening made her flinch and she quickly paused her tape to avoid wasting audio. When she turned to see who was at the door, she saw her captain standing there. Minerva frowned and crossed her arms; she'd repeatedly asked him to knock before entering her room unless there was a medical emergency, and he'd repeatedly ignored her requests. "We're getting close to the island," he said. He stepped inside and eyed her, crossing his arms. "You're gonna remember to keep your mouth shut about Hawkins's prophecy to Apoo and his crew, right?" 

Minerva nodded. "There's no reason for me to reveal it to him," she replied bluntly. Her lips turned up into a small smile. "Besides, do you really think I'm foolish enough to reveal my _captain's_ plan to a man I've just met?"

Kid smirked for just a moment. "Not  _ now _ ," he replied, "But I've never seen you party before." He shrugged. "Just in case you're the kind who gets all loose-lipped when you've had a few, I'm gonna have Killer keep an eye on ya."

Minerva frowned. "I thought that you and Hawkins were going to  _ meet _ with Apoo," she replied, confused. Why in the world would you have a party and become inebriated when you were planning on negotiating with a prospective ally?

"We  _ are _ ," Kid replied, furrowing his brows. "Meeting's first, but when you form an alliance, it's tradition for all the crews to drink and party after the captains take the oath together."

Minerva hastily reached for her journal and stylus. "A ritual? You've never mentioned this before!" She looked at him eagerly after flipping to her next blank page. "What does it entail?"

Kid shrugged and leaned against the wall behind him. She always got excited and worked up and nerded out over the weirdest things. The way she'd light up when someone on the crew would reference some pirate she'd never heard of, or she'd spy a bird or Sea King near the ship that she'd never seen before...it reminded Kid of an overexcited puppy. He didn't like comparing any of his crew members to something so soft and cuddly, but with her, he could practically see a tail wagging behind her as she excitedly asked about something or scribbled in her journal. "It's nothing fancy," he replied. "All the captains in the alliance fill some sake cups and drink it together, that's all."

Minerva wrote into her notebook. "Is this ritual only for alliances, or is it also done when a crew is formed?"

"You  _ can  _ do it, if you want to make it official," Kid said. "It's not a strict rule or anything, though." As she closed her notebook and set it back on her desk, he sized her up once again. "Have you ever gotten drunk before?"

Minerva shrugged. "I've consumed alcohol before," she clarified, "But whenever I became too inebriated, I'd just reverse the effects of the alcohol by using my Rewire." She crinkled her nose. "I've never understood what was so enjoyable about consuming something that significantly damages your body for some temporary enjoyment."

Kid snorted. "You've never been to a real party then," he replied with a grin. He eyed her for a moment. "Hey," he said slowly, "Since you can undo all the bad shit that comes from getting drunk...can you get rid of hangovers?"

"I can," she replied matter-of-factly. "The symptoms of a hangover would be pretty easy for me to Rewire--light and sound sensitivity, headache, dizziness."

Kid's eyebrows shot up, and his smile widened. "So we can drink as much as we want and then  _ not  _ be hungover the next day? Shit, this deal keeps getting better and better!" He lightly smacked her on the back with his nonmetal arm, and she stumbled forward a bit from the force of his pat. 

"Well, I'm glad you've found a proper use for my abilities," Minerva replied sarcastically, following him out of the room. "Eliminating the consequences of your binge drinking."

"You mean  _ our  _ binge drinking," Kid corrected. "You're part of the crew, and when we party, the  _ whole  _ crew parties together."

Heat, Wire, and Killer were already outside, hanging out on the outer deck together as the ship sailed towards the approaching island. When they overheard Kid's talk of partying, Heat grinned and looked over at Minerva. "Hey, you're finally gonna have fun and drink with the rest of us!" He chuckled. "You've never been to an alliance party, right? Man, you're in for a treat."

Minerva fiddled with her fingers a bit and looked out at the small dot of land in the distance. "I'm really not one for partying," she replied. "Even during holidays like Saturnalia, where drinking is customary, I'd always drink the bare minimum and enjoy watching everyone else revelling."

Wire cocked his head. "What's that?"

"Saturnalia?" 

Wire nodded, and Minerva saw that the others were also wondering about the holiday. "It's the most widely-celebrated holiday in Romora," Minerva explained with a small, nostalgic smile. "It lasts for a full week, and ends on the last day of the winter solstice. It's a time of merrymaking, making offerings to the god Saturn, feasting, dancing, and  _ lots _ of rowdiness." 

Killer nodded slowly. "If it helps, just think of tonight as being like Saturnalia," he replied. "It's a time to let loose a bit and have fun."

Minerva looked out at the island and pursed her lips slightly. "I guess it couldn't hurt to socialize a bit," she said hesitantly. "Spending too much time in isolation can have some very negative side effects, after all…" She turned back and nodded firmly. "Alright. I'll try to have fun with everyone."

Heat and Wire held their palms out to her and she stared at them, confused for a moment. "Oh! Oh, I see," she realized, gently smacking their hands with a high-five. High-fives weren't a common gesture in Romora, and she had learned about them during her time on the crew. "Thank you." She paused for a moment and turned to Kid. "Speaking of Romora," she asked, "Should I hide where I'm from to Apoo and his crew?" If Romora was believed to be a mythical place, then saying she was from there might arouse his suspicions of how Kid and Hawkins had found her.

Kid mulled the question over, and then nodded. "Yeah," he replied finally. "The last thing we need is for Apoo to start asking too many questions about you. Just say you're from another island; there are plenty of ones that aren't on maps, so you could say any name and he'd probably believe it."

Minerva nodded. "I'll just use the name of my home island," she decided. "Instead of saying I'm from Romora, I'll say that I'm from Austellus. Do most people know the names of the islands that make up the Romoran Empire, or do they only know the kingdom's name?"

"Just the kingdom," Killer replied. "It's so ancient that most people think it was just one big island named Romora, like the Alabasta kingdom."

Minerva grimaced at such a critical misconception of her homeland, and wondered why there weren't any proper archives of information for people to prevent these historical inaccuracies from being spread. Before she could ask if there were  _ any _ historians or archivists in this world, the crew noticed how close they were to the island and prepared to make anchor. Minerva eagerly looked out at the densely forested island in front of them, and she immediately thought of the rainforests of Austellus. Her heart ached a bit, but was quickly replaced by a wave of excitement--there was an entire island for her to explore! While Kid picked up the anchor with his Devil Fruit and Wire and Heat lowered the sails, Killer steered the ship to the best place to keep the ship docked. Minerva scurried to her room in order to grab a rucksack that Wire had found lying around on the ship. She grabbed her journal and stylus, her commentarius, a small empty cigar box she had found and decided to keep things in, two small empty jars, and the first aid kit from her chest inside and slung the bag around her back; if she was going to explore, she wanted to be prepared.

Heat grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked for any sign of Apoo's crew on the small island. Hawkins's ship had already begun to make anchor, but they were the only other group of people that he could see. "Looks like Apoo isn't here yet, Cap," he called out to Kid. 

"Yeah, I figured," Kid replied. "Hawkins called to say that his  _ cards _ had warned him about Apoo being later than the rest of us." He rolled his eyes and strode to the front of the ship to look out at his crew's old hideout with a smile; a pirate's home was his ship, but this old island held a lot of memories--wrestling with Killer on the beach, burying their first stashes of treasure after Wire and Heat had sworn themselves to the crew, practicing with his Devil Fruit by making a jagged metal fence around the island's perimeter and decorating them with the torn and bloodied clothes of Marines and other Pirates…

Minerva noticed the spikes around the island and raised an eyebrow. "I imagine that was  _ your _ handiwork?" 

Kid smirked. "Damn right," he said proudly. 

She peered apprehensively at the large jagged pillars. "They're fairly far from each other. I can't imagine they provide any major form of defense."

Kid raised an eyebrow and looked down at her from the corner of his eye. "That's not why they're there," he replied, still smiling darkly. He pointed at one of the spikes with a torn Marine shirt attached to it, fluttering in the breeze. "One look at that, and most pirates know to stay away from the island with my flag." His index finger moved to a large crude flagpole made of metal, with his crew's Jolly Roger on a black flag.

Minerva fixated on the clothes adorning the spikes and felt uneasy.  _ How sickening,  _ she thought to herself, inferring how Kid could have acquired so many torn and bloodstained clothes.  _ But...I can't deny that it's an effective method of driving away would-be intruders.  _ She was slightly disturbed, but also impressed with Kid; even if it lacked subtlety, a violent and brutish display like this was a very persuasive form of intimidation--a crude, yet effective strategy.

Once the ship was securely anchored, Heat, Wire, and Killer met up with Kid and Minerva at the front of the ship. Minerva looked up at Kid. "So, are we going to climb onto a dinghy and row to the island?" She looked down at the dark blue waters below. 

"Nah," Kid replied, raising his metal arm. "There's a faster way." Minerva watched as Kid summoned the many metal spikes around the island and laid them down against each other until they made a long ramp leading to the beach. Kid took the lead, with Killer, Heat, and Wire following behind him. He looked back at Minerva, who was carefully testing the sturdiness of the metal ramp by placing one foot on it. 

"Are you sure this is structurally sound?" She looked down at the floating structure nervously. A few of the spikes near her foot were covered with multiple spots of (what she hoped was) rust; her sandals didn't offer the amount of protection she would have wanted while walking on this grisly ramshackle platform, and even though she'd had a tetanus vaccine a few months ago, she didn't want to test its effectiveness.

Kid shrugged as he walked. "I've done this dozens of times," he replied casually. "Get up here and find out for yourself."

Minerva carefully stepped up onto the ramp and Kid made one of the spikes underneath her rattle slightly; she inhaled sharply and froze, not wanting to slip and fall into the water below. Kid smirked at the wide-eyed, fearful look on her face and made the ramp still again. She caught him watching her and glared, but her expression only amused her. "Watch your step, Princess," he called out, turning back around to continue walking down the path. 

The rest of the crew chuckled and Minerva rolled her eyes as she walked behind them, taking very slow, deliberate steps to keep her balance.  _ 'Princess',  _ she thought distastefully, frowning at the back of Kid's head. Of all the nicknames her captain had for her, she disliked that one the most.  _ I don't act like I'm royalty around him--I'm acting like a mature, civilized person! Hmph.  _ She briefly thought of a list of potential nicknames she could give him, but that she'd never been childish enough to actually call him: Impudice , Malum, Luteus...Sometimes she had jokingly referred to him in her audio journal as Brutus, and she remembered calling him that when they'd first met, but it didn't have the same effect as the names he had for her.

As she took her last few steps on the metal platform, a few feet above the island's sandy beach, she tripped on the final spike and let out a surprised yelp as she instinctively tried to cushion her fall by making a soft Myelin Shield underneath her; before she could summon one, she suddenly felt someone holding her by the waist and keeping her upright. She looked to the side and saw that Kid had caught her. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment and she looked away awkwardly. The fall wasn't high enough to have given her anything more serious than a sprained ankle, but she was still grateful that he'd managed to catch her.

"I…" Minerva cleared her throat and looked back at Kid. "Thank you."

Kid silently dropped her and her feet landed onto the sand. He'd been around her long enough to tell when she was lost in that head of hers, and she always managed to nearly fall on her ass if she was thinking like that while walking somewhere. Once he'd stepped off the ramp, he decided to test his guess (and her reflexes) by making the last spike slip by just a few inches; sure enough, she'd been too lost in thought to catch herself, and Kid was ready to catch her before she face planted into the sand. Even though Killer's training had toned her muscles, she was still a lot softer and squishier in his arms. Then again, when one of your arms is made of metal, everything's soft in your arms by comparison. Not that he disliked that about her. If anything, he kind of liked how soft she was compared to him and the rest of the crew; it made him feel hard...Or--well, not like _that._ It made him feel...you know, _tough._ Yeah, that sounds better. He smirked again and continued to head with the others towards Hawkins's crew on the other side of the beach, and Minerva followed closely behind them. Just to tease her further, he called back behind her before pointing at a thick piece of driftwood near his feet. "Watch your step here...Princess."  
  



	16. Chapter 16

Minerva followed the rest of the crew while they met up with Hawkins and his men on the beach. Her cheeks were still burning from that embarrassing fall and Kid's "Princess" comment, but she was trying her best to not let it show. 

"Oi, Hawkins," Kid said gruffly. "Any idea when Apoo's likely to show up?"

Hawkins tucked a piece of straw-colored hair behind his ear. "He called my DenDen Mushi a few minutes ago," he replied. "He said he should be at the island by the late afternoon, around sunset."

Kid scowled. "Great, plenty of time for us to get the food and booze together while he does jack shit," he muttered sarcastically. He pointed towards the forested area nearby with his thumb. "We've got a decent supply of drinks hidden away here," he said. "You get your food and drinks together and we'll head out to get our share of the booze."

Hawkins nodded, and a few of his crew mates quickly headed back to the ship to take stock of what food they could spare. Minerva followed behind Kid and the rest of the crew headed into the forest behind him. As she looked around, she was surprised that she recognized some of the plants populating the island. To her delight, she spotted a few clusters and bushes of medicinal plants that she could use on the ship; she made a mental note to come back to this part of the island once the crew had finished retrieving the drinks. 

She watched as Eustass stopped at a nondescript-looking tree stump with something carved into it. He kicked it aside, revealing it to be a fake tree that hid a compartment containing multiple dusty bottles of booze. Everyone in the crew helped hoist the crates out and carry them back to the beach, and Minerva curiously eyed one of the bottles in her hands. "What kind of drink is this?" she asked. She had drank honeyed wine, cider, and beer a few times in Romora (usually during celebrations and holidays), but this looked nothing like that; it was a bottle of clear liquid, and when she uncorked it she could tell that it definitely didn't smell anything like water.

Kid took the bottle from Minerva and took a swig of it before handing it back to her. "Sake," he replied.

Minerva raised her eyebrows. "Oh," she remarked. "That's the drink you mentioned before, yes? The one used when pirate crews form an alliance?" She peered into the bottle and swirled around the liquid inside, and experimentally took a small swig. It tasted a bit "cleaner" compared to beer, but much less sweet than honeyed wine--not unpleasant, but definitely foreign. Given how Romorans typically diluted their spirits with sugar or fruit, it was much stronger than what she was expecting. Kid noticed a small dust of pink on her cheeks when she set the bottle back in its crate and carried it out to a designated spot on the beach. When she stumbled back a bit to take out her journal and stylus before sitting on a large boulder, he smirked when he noticed that her cheeks were still pink. It was a good thing he'd decided to have the crew look after her tonight; she was a lightweight, especially by pirate standards.

"What're you putting in there this time?" He grabbed a half-bottle of whiskey to sip and then dropped it into his coat pocket. 

Minerva glanced at the sake bottle every few seconds as she scribbled in her notebook. "The bottle of sake," she replied simply. "My father once read about how some countries outside of Romora distill alcohol from rice, but I've never been able to taste it for myself until now." She looked over at Kid. "How is it made? And how does the process lead to such a clear liquid if it comes from distilling rice?"

Kid shrugged. "I dunno," he replied. "I just know it tastes good." He pulled out his bottle of whiskey with a half-smile. "I'm more of a whiskey guy, though. Gets you drunk faster."

Minerva eyed the bottle of whiskey. "Hmm, whiskey," she mused. "I'll have to sample that later." She made a small note about this new drink in her journal and then put it back in her rucksack. 

Kid set the bottle back in his pocket and raised an eyebrow. "Never had it before?" Minerva shook her head, and he leaned back on one of the metal spikes surrounding the beach. "Damn, this is gonna be a night full of firsts for ya then." 

Minerva nodded, and a small smile was on her face. "I'm looking forward to it," she said brightly. "It's exciting to be exposed to so many new things all at once. I just hope I can write everything down while I'm experiencing it all!"

Even during a party, she was going to spend most of the night sticking her nose in that journal of hers. Kid observed the lingering blush on her cheeks again and grinned; if she really was this green, he doubted she'd be able to spell her own name by the time the night was through. Regardless of now un-pirate-like she was, she was still a member of the crew, when you're in Kid's crew, you learned to do two things very well--fuck shit up, and have fun in the rowdiest ways possible. He'd make a proper pirate out of this Princess soon enough, and tonight was the best place to start teaching her the ways of the sea.

When Minerva rose up to head back into the forest, Kid frowned. "Where're ya going? I'm not giving these guys any more of my booze," he insisted. 

Minerva pointed in the direction of the plants she'd seen on their way to the hidden tree trunk. "There were some plants I wanted to gather," she explained. "If there's nothing else we need to do to prepare for this alliance tonight, then I'm going to collect a few specimens and explore for a while."

Kid crossed his arms. "You're leaving to go pick  _ flowers _ ?" he said derisively. 

"Specimens," Minerva corrected coolly. "I recognize some of them from Romora, and I think I can use them medicinally." She adjusted the straps on her rucksack and looked back at her captain. "If you like, I could show you which ones would be useful."

Heat heard the two of them and scratched an itch on his arm absentmindedly. "Do we really  _ need _ to know that stuff when we've already got you?"

Minerva frowned. "Relying solely on me for medical expertise isn't wise," she replied bluntly. "If there's a situation where I'm incapacitated or unable to help you all for some reason, you won't be completely helpless if you're injured and need to treat yourself."

Wire shrugged as he set down a few crates of beer. "Fair point," he replied. 

While Heat followed behind her to learn about medicinal plants, Kid followed slowly to drink whiskey and watched them from a small distance while Killer and Wire went to help Hawkins's crew with cooking. Minerva crouched down and pointed out a flower with pink petals and a large conelike center. "This one's scientific name is Echinacea," she explained. "In Nocaligo, I think it would be called 'Coneflower'."

Heat crouched next to her, and Kid peered down with a derisive frown. "What does it do?" he asked, crossing his arms. He still wasn't convinced that a flower could be that useful. 

Minerva carefully pinched off the leaves and placed them in her pouch, and then pulled up the plant to gather a few of its largest roots. "It has a few uses," she replied. "It can be ingested as a tea to strengthen the immune system and fight infection, and it also promotes cell growth. It can also be made into an ointment or tincture, and can help fight infection and inflammation in that way as well." She looked up at Kid and eyed his metal arm. "Ideally, I'd want to use some of these to make an ointment for the irritated areas around your arm." A corner of her mouth turned up slightly. "Or maybe you'd like me to make you a cup of tea with the leaves for you instead…"

Kid snorted and dangled his whiskey bottle. "Unless it's got some of this shit in there, no way," he replied. "I don't drink tea."

Minerva shrugged and Heat helped her gather some more leaves and roots to put in her pack. "I figured as much," she replied. She turned her head to scan the rest of the nearby grass. "Now...what else is there?" She rose up to investigate some potentially useful plants, but only Heat followed her; Kid stayed where he was to watch them from afar, sitting down and leaning against a nearby tree. "Ah! Heat, look here," she said excitedly. "There's an aloe vera plant here, we can use this as an ointment as well."

Heat nodded. "Oh yeah, I know that one!" He smiled in recognition, and a bit of nostalgia. "When I first started training with my fire breathing technique, I had to put this stuff on me all the time when I burned myself." He bent down and gently squeezed one of the thick leaves. "The goo's inside the leaves, right?"

Minerva nodded and pursed her lips as she examined the plant. "Hmm...We can't properly harvest it yet, not without a container to hold the gel and a pair of scissors."

"You can't just rip 'em like we did with the coneflowers?" Heat's grip on the leaf tightened as he got ready to pull it off, and Minerva reached out to grab his hand. Kid's eyes narrowed at the sight of her holding Heat's hand, and he felt a random flicker of anger in his chest. It subsided just as quickly as it had come, and he cocked his head as he glanced at the whiskey bottle in his hand; he already had a temper when he was sober, but if he was tipsy and his inhibitions were lower than usual (which was saying something), he could get random bouts of annoyance or anger out of nowhere in particular. It wasn't rare for him to crush someone's skull if they looked at him in a way he didn't like, regardless of what their intentions were. Hmm...maybe he should slow down and pace himself so he could keep a nice mellow buzz for when the party started.

"No, no, no," Minerva said quickly, "You could cause tissue damage if you tear it like that!" Heat let go of the leaf and the two of them helped each other up to stand. "I'm sure someone on the island has a knife we could use," she said. "Honestly, I bet that our captain has several weapons in his pockets that would be perfect." 

Heat rolled up one of his pants legs to his ankle and produced a small pocket knife. "Will this work?"

Minerva was taken aback at seeing one of her crewmates with such a small, almost diminutive weapon, but she nodded before taking the knife from him. "I don't want to sound rude, but...is there any reason you've got such a small weapon? Given your fire-breathing capabilities, I doubt it would be a weapon you would use often."

Heat smirked. "That's actually why I've got it," he replied, rolling up his pants legs to reveal an array of small knives hidden underneath. "Me and Kid have got a special attack when we're fighting, where I heat up all of these and then Kid launches 'em at whoever we're up against!"

"'Kid and I'," Minerva automatically muttered under her breath. She peered down at the sheathed knives on Heat's legs. "That's an impressive way to combine both of your abilities in combat," she remarked. "I wonder if the temperature of the knives would be hot enough to instantly cauterize any wounds they make…" She muttered and theorized to herself while she carefully cut one of the aloe leaves and took one of her jars out of her bag. After slicing the aloe open, she gently squeezed a few drops of the juice inside the leaf and scraped a bit of the flesh inside as well. Heat took another one of his knives from its sheath and helped her fill the jar, and soon it was full of aloe vera juice. 

Minerva placed the jar back in her rucksack and gave Heat a small smile. "Thank you for helping me," she said. She looked to the side where Kid was still watching the two of them. "Should we head back to the others? These plant specimens should last until we reach another island to gather more supplies."

Heat nodded and the two of them headed back to Kid, who raised an eyebrow when he saw the aloe covering their fingers. "Huh, plant goo," he remarked. "What's it for?" His normally pale skin had the barest hint of a blush thanks to his slight buzz. 

Minerva proudly tapped the back of her bag. "Oh, aloe vera has multiple uses," she replied. "It can treat burns and rashes, sunburns, and can be used as an ointment if there's nothing else on hand. Those are just topical uses, though. Ingesting it also has benefits: it's very hydrating, it can help with indigestion or constipation, and it has plenty of nutrients when compared to water." She glanced down at the bottle in Kid's hand. "Or  _ other  _ beverages."

Kid heard the slight mocking tone in her voice, and he didn't fail to notice the small flash of a smirk on her face. "What's it taste like?" Heat licked what was left on his fingers while Minerva considered the question.

"It's definitely an acquired taste," she replied pensively. "It isn't overpowering at all, and it's actually a bit sweet."

Before she could elaborate further, Kid snatched her wrist and obnoxiously licked the underside of her fingers. Minerva's eyes widened and she blinked silently at him; she honestly had no idea how to react to this. Kid wiped his chin and shrugged as he mulled over the slight aftertaste of the plant on his tongue. "It tastes alright," he replied nonchalantly, taking another sip of whiskey and grinning at the bug-eyed look on her face. "I prefer  _ other beverages  _ though."

Minerva rolled her eyes and wiped her hand on the bottom of her shirt with a slightly disgusted look on her face. "Ugh," she replied distasteful. "Not only do you act like an animal, but you seem to drool like one as well." She crossed her arms and glanced at the path leading back to the beach. "If there's nothing else left to do here, shouldn't we head back to the others?"

"And not only do you talk like an uppity princess, you hold yourself like one too," Kid replied, unbothered by her derisive comments. He shoved his whiskey bottle into his coat and headed down the beach, crossing his arms and mockingly tilting his head up to imitate her. "If there's nothing else left to do here," she said in an exaggeratedly posh and feminine voice, "Shouldn't we head back to the others?"

Minerva crossed her arms again and narrowed her eyes at Kid before looking away with her chin slightly up in the air. "That is  _ not  _ an accurate impression," she huffed. Heat had to bite back a snort as he watched her cross her arms and hold her head up almost exactly like Kid's impression of her. 

Kid glanced back at her while he walked. "Sorry Princess, I couldn't quite catch that," he said sarcastically. "Maybe get your nose out of the clouds and try saying that again." Heat wasn't able to hold back a chuckle, and Minerva's cheeks turned pink. She uncrossed her arms and purposefully lowered her chin, wondering if she really did have a habit of holding it up high. She slowed her walk as she moved and tilted her head up and down, trying to find a position that was comfortable and natural without being too high in the air. Heat passed by her on the trail, and she became so lost in thought that she was much farther behind the two of them than before. 

Kid turned around and noticed her moving her chin, and he grinned devilishly at Heat before heading back to Minerva. "See? Told ya you acted like a princess. You can't even walk down a straight path without needing a royal escort!" 

"I can, I was just--Eustass!" Minerva started to make a retort, but it was cut off by a small squeak of surprise as Kid hoisted her over his shoulder. He sauntered back up the path and walked alongside Heat, and the two of them were snickering at each other as Minerva huffed and crossed her arms, apparently resigned to her current position slung over her captain's shoulder. "Oh,  _ honestly _ ," she muttered irritably to herself. She tried to look back at Eustass while he carried her from behind. "If you put me down, I will keep up with you until we reach the beach," she insisted. 

"Can't risk it, Princess," Kid teased. "Don't worry, there'll be plenty of time for you to prove that you can keep up with us." He shifted his arm a little bit and when his fingers brushed over a ticklish spot on her legs, she had to cover her mouth to stifle a giggle. Heat noticed her expression and slyly nudged Kid, who smirked and continued to 'accidentally' brush that same spot on her leg as she let out a few short, muffled giggles and odd breaths as she tried to keep herself from laughing out loud. 

As the three of them approached the beach, they could hear the sound of blaring music gradually growing louder over the waves. Once they heard those loud trippy beats, Kid and Heat immediately exchanged a look; Apoo was definitely here. Minerva perked her head up and wished she was able to see what the others were looking at. "I've never heard this kind of music before," she remarked. "Is it popular? And...is it usually played at such a high volume?" She rubbed her temples for a moment, and wondered if she could fashion some earplugs from her Axon Whip if the sound became too overwhelming.

"It is if it's being played on Apoo's ship," Kid replied. He pushed past the brush ahead of him and saw the other Supernova's ship floating just off the coast, and then saw that Apoo himself was making his way to the beach with his crew. It seemed that the small boat he was on was, like his actual ship, equipped with a speaker. 

"Ay yo, is that Kid I spy up ahead with that spooky dreadhead crew mate of his? How's it going, homie?" Apoo waved at Kid and Heat--they didn't wave back. When he stepped out onto the beach, followed by his crew mates, he noticed that Kid was carrying someone. "Hold up...I don't remember you having someone on your ship with an ass that fine! Who've you got there?" He lowered his sunglasses and peered at the stranger over Kid's shoulder. Minerva's blush intensified as she wondered if having a 'fine ass' was a common compliment in Apoo's culture. 

"New crew mate," Kid replied gruffly. He turned his head a bit to look back at Minerva. "Remember," he said in a quiet and firm voice. "Don't say too much about yourself to him. He may be joining this alliance, but he's even sneakier than Hawkins. Keep your guard up."

Minerva nodded. "I will," she said impatiently. "Now would you  _ please  _ put me down?"

Kid smirked and moved his arms to set her down on the beach, and she turned to face the third pirate captain she'd encountered in this new world so far. Whoever he was, he couldn't possibly be worse than Kid...right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aka "The chapter where Heat and Minerva pick flowers, and Kid looks on disapprovingly in between sips of whiskey." The Kid Pirates are known for many things, but talking about things like the benefits of coneflower tea is not one of them.   
> Also, I hc that Apoo doesn't recognize people by faces, voices, or names--he has an encyclopedic memory for asses. An ass-cyclopedic memory, if you will.


	17. Chapter 17

The moment she laid eyes on Apoo, Minerva was fascinated. His body was so...strange! His arms were incredibly long, appearing to have extra bones with how they bent. His robes were in a style that Minerva had never seen before, and was a bright shade of red that clashed (yet somehow fit) with the rest of his ensemble. His hair was made into a ponytail with several blue accessories, and he was wearing a pair of what looked like orange earmuffs. He was smiling at Kid, and his mouth contained a few black accessories that made him resemble a piano whenever he showed his teeth. 

"Ayyy, now that's a surprise," Apoo said, and Minerva wondered why he was speaking so loudly when he was only a few feet away from the people he was addressing. "Hawkins mentioned you had a new member of your crew, but I was thinking they'd be a bit bigger and spikier." He smirked. "You know, just to fit in with that whole heavy metal vibe ya got going on!" He lowered his tinted glasses a bit to look Minerva up and down. "Not complainin', though; she's still a babe." He gave Kid a thumbs up with one of his arms. "You've got wicked good taste, bro!" The more Minerva heard him talk, the more curious she became. He was speaking Nocaligo, but this was  _ definitely  _ a dialect she'd never read about. 

Kid's eyes narrowed a bit as Apoo's eyes traveled around his crewmate. It didn't matter if she  _ was  _ a fine piece of ass, she was still his prisoner and still part of his crew. And he didn't like anyone, especially a sneak like Apoo, eyeing what was his. He curtly jerked his head to the side a bit and glared at Apoo. "Yeah, I do," he replied dismissively. "Now that you're finally here, let's grab Hawkins so we can hash this alliance shit out." 

Minerva followed right behind them with the rest of their crews, and took her journal out of her rucksack to quickly add an entry about Apoo. "Excuse me, Captain Apoo," she said eagerly, "Once the formalities of this alliance have been settled, could I ask you a few questions? I've only recently left my home island, and I'm trying to learn as much as possible about the outside world and its inhabitants."

Apoo bent his arm completely backwards to give her a thumbs-up while he walked, and Minerva hastily tried to sketch the peculiar way he could move his arms thanks to his extra limbs. "Oh, an interview? I can dig it." He glanced back at her with a smirk and raised his eyebrow. "Man, you  _ really  _ aren't the kinda chick I'd expect to find on Kid's crew. Never thought I'd hear someone from his ship say 'excuse me' before."

Minerva saw Kid glare at Apoo out of the corner of her eye. "Our personalities are different," she said nonchalantly, "But I would rather have a strong ally that I clash with than a weak ally that's my best friend." She glanced at Kid, who she could have sworn had smiled for just a moment before looking ahead to wave down Hawkins on the other end of the beach.

"Now  _ that  _ sounds more like Kid," Apoo said. "I doubt that he'd have let you on his crew if you didn't have some fight and some power in ya."

Minerva nodded and smiled modestly, and soon the entourage behind the two captains met up with Hawkins. When they walked off together to discuss their alliance, their crewmates left to help Hawkins's crew with cooking; Minerva followed suit and met up with Killer, Wire, and Heat. They were currently cooking a large amount of meat over a recently-constructed fire pit/grill. Minerva scanned the tables that had been dragged from Kid and Hawkins's ships, and eyed the array of exotic foods (well, exotic to her) that were already prepared. 

"There are a lot of rice dishes," Minerva noted out loud. "Is it a common staple food?"

Wire nodded vigorously and stared hungrily at the many bowls of rice on the table. " _ Hell  _ yeah," he replied with a half-smile. His stomach growled a bit at the thought of the feast later tonight.

Heat grabbed some tongs and a serving plate to put the cooked meat onto. "Is there not much rice in Romora?" He couldn't imagine an island where it wasn't a main part of the local cuisine.

Minerva shrugged and helped him set the massive plate of meat on the table. "We have it, but it isn't a naturally-grown crop," she replied. "The only island with the proper humidity and wet areas to grow it is on Austellus, but the Huntresses don't allow any crops that would interfere with the life and welfare of the animals that inhabit the land. The pools where rice  _ could  _ be grown in large amounts would alter the ecosystem too much, so it's only grown in some of the villam globis--ah…" She struggled to come up with a proper translation. "Farm...spheres?"

Killer set down a tray of cooked meat skewers and cocked his head. "Farm spheres?"

Minerva racked her brain for a way to better explain it properly to them. "They're like…" She spotted a plate of rice balls and pointed at them. "Oh, like this! They're pods that are used to grow certain crops and cross-bred plants that require very specific conditions to grow," she explained. "There's a large number of buttons and dials on the outside panels, allowing someone to alter the temperature, humidity level, amount of UV light exposure, things like that." She smiled nostalgically as she thought of the villum globis and massive farms that made up the island of Occidena. Her mother had shown her one when she was just a toddler, and back then Minerva had stared in wonder at what she thought was a giant, shiny egg filled with pretty flowers. Of course, she learned very quickly about what they really were thanks to her mother's botanical studies, but she was still impressed whenever she saw them.

"You guys have that kind of tech? Man, no wonder you guys hid from the World Government for so long," Heat remarked. "They'd take that shit in a heartbeat."

Minerva frowned and went to help serve a large tray of fish that Faust was cooking nearby. "That's the organization that the Marines are part of, yes?" She furrowed her brows. "I'm surprised they don't have technology on a similar level to ours, considering their control over so much of the world. Do any of you know about their research department?"

"They aren't really the type to divulge anything they're working on," Faust replied, cleaning his whiskers after some sauce had landed on his face while cooking. 

"So there aren't any public symposiums or conferences? Then how are people supposed to know what their leaders have accomplished, or what they're  _ trying  _ to accomplish?" The Romoran Symposiums were practically holidays with how excited people would get, and the entire affair was a celebration of the kingdom's achievements for the benefit of their citizens  _ and  _ finding new knowledge. She assumed that the World Government had to have some way to address all of their citizens across their territory, not that they wouldn't inform them  _ at all  _ about any of their achievements. How else would their citizens learn about how they're trying to improve the lives of the public, or how hard they've been working and researching, or...anything?

"Is there  _ any  _ way that the public can be informed about the World Government and what it's doing? What about historical archives, just to see how far they've come since this World Government was founded?" Surely there were some historical archives of this group's creation, considering how powerful and well-known they were.

Faust cocked his head and crinkled his nose. "You have a  _ lot  _ to learn about this world," he chuckled. "The people in the World Government don't want  _ anyone  _ to know what they're doing. The only information that gets spread around is from their own newspaper, and you can imagine how biased it can be when it comes to the affairs of people like us."

Heat nodded. "Besides, there's no history for anyone to learn," he added. "They've been ruling for decades now, and all people really know is that the Celestial Dragons are descendants of the original founders of the World Government. Apart from that, they don't appreciate anyone looking into their history."

Minerva's almost snorted in indignation. "How do they expect anyone to respect them if they refuse to acknowledge their own history?" She put her hands on her hips. "In Romora, we have an extensive historical archive, detailing everything in our history--the good, the bad, and everything in between. Is there really nothing like that for this World Government?" She crossed her arms. "Wait, what about Ohara?"

The pirates all stared at her for a moment. "You know about Ohara?" Killer asked. "I thought Romora was isolated from the world for centuries."

"Yes, but we weren't  _ always  _ isolationist," Minerva replied. "Our historical records go back to the kingdom's initial founding, and before we closed ourselves off to the outside world, Ohara was one of our closest allies." She smiled as she described the various ancient accounts of scholars in Romora journeying to exchange ideas with their colleagues in Ohara. "I doubt they took drastic measures like using Mist to keep themselves sheltered, but they were just as dedicated as us when it came to preserving knowledge. Surely they wouldn't join this World Government if they've always been like this."

The pirates looked around uncomfortably at each other. Finally, Wire spoke up. "Ohara's gone," he said gently. Minerva looked quizzically at him. 

"Gone? Did they isolate themselves in the end, like Romora?"

Wire shook his head, and Heat looked sympathetically at Minerva. She really had no idea what had happened, and he knew that she wouldn't take news of Ohara's fate well. "The World Government got word that some of the scholars there were looking into the Void Century," he started. "Wait, you guys probably don't call it that. It's the 100 years  _ before  _ the World Government was founded by those Celestial Dragon guys."

Minerva nodded, still confused but eager to hear about the world's history (and Ohara's fate). "We refer to it as the Mist Century," she replied offhandedly. "It was our first period of isolation, thanks to the Mist. But...back to Ohara, please."

"The World Government doesn't let anyone live if they think they could learn about whatever happened back then," Killer continued. "So when they heard about some Oharan archaeologists looking into the Void Century, they issued a Buster Call--a  _ massive _ bombing."

Minerva's eyes widened, and she stared at Killer. "They...they  _ bombed  _ the entire island?" Her voice wavered, horrified at the thought of such a place of knowledge being obliterated. "But...but the library there, and the...the archives…" Her fingernails dug into her skin. "All of it is gone? All of the scholars there are dead?"

Wire shook his head and held up one finger. "Except one," he said. "Nico Robin."

"Riiight, that woman with the hand powers in Straw Hat's crew," Heat said, recognizing the name. "I remember seeing her at Sabaody with the rest of them." He leaned against a nearby tree. "That was what, two years ago, right? Wonder why she joined  _ them  _ after Crocodile got taken out. She's always done shit on her own. Used to be that her wanted poster had that one picture of her as a kid until they'd gotten a photo of her at Enies Lobby."

Minerva heard the mention of Nico Robin's wanted poster and made an educated guess as to why a  _ child _ from Ohara would be hunted by the World Government. "Does she know about what happened during the Void Century?" 

"If she did, she would've probably gone public with it," Heat replied. "Not that anyone in the World Government would believe her, since they say she's the Devil's Child. She just knows  _ some _ stuff about it, I think. Like the language that one of the main kingdoms used to write back in the day."

Minerva wondered what else she knew.  _ An ancient language,  _ she pondered.  _ If it isn't known to anyone besides her, she may be the only person on earth who could read any archived information from this kingdom... _ She stared intently at the ground as she gathered her thoughts.  _ The Romoran archives only describe what happened in our own kingdom during those hundred years of isolation. If I'm going to bring back new knowledge, then a historical record of that century would be a great find.  _ She nodded slightly to herself, and the others could practically see the gears in her mind turning.  _ I need to find this woman,  _ she resolved.  _ If she's a former scholar of Ohara, then she has to know about Romora. I can prove to her that I'm truly from there, and we could exchange information with each other! I can give her an account of Romora's history, and she can tell me what she knows of the Void Century. Oh! If she doesn't know how to read it, I could teach her Romoran in exchange for her teaching me this ancient kingdom's language! If she's the only person in the world who can interpret their writing, and if she's ever incapacitated or--gods forbid--killed, it would be best to have someone else who can read it as well and continue where she left off.  _

Minerva snapped her head back up to her fellow pirates. "This woman, Nico Robin," she said eagerly, "You mentioned she was on a pirate crew as well? Which one?"

"Straw Hat Luffy," Wire replied. "Weird kid. Strong, but...weird."

"Is there any way we could meet with them? We wouldn't even need to form an alliance," she added quickly, noting her captain's distaste for working with others. "I just want to learn what she's discovered."

The rest of Kid's crew looked at each other. "Well...We don't even know where his crew is," Killer replied. "They all got scattered at Sabaody, after Kuma and the rest of the Pacifista separated them. From what I've heard, their ship is still there. Surprised it hasn't been sold for scrap or ransacked, to be honest."

Minerva toyed with her ponytail as she thought of what to do. "If their ship is there, then this Sabaody island is probably where they're planning on regrouping," she mused. "Is that island on our planned route?"

Killer and Heat turned to Wire, the crew's navigator. "Actually...yeah," he said slowly. He took a map out of his coat's deep pockets and showed them the route they were taking. "We  _ could  _ restock supplies there. No detour."

Minerva took out her journal and quickly made a copy of the island route that the crew was following.  _ First we land at this small island chain, and then at the Sabaody Archipelago,  _ she thought.  _ There's no guarantee that she would actually be there when we arrive, but I could always give her a way to contact me. Hmm...I doubt Kid would want me to give her the number for his DenDen Mushi. Maybe I could buy one of my own once we arrive at Sabaody and leave a letter addressed to her on their ship somewhere? _

She closed her journal and nodded firmly. It was satisfying and encouraging to finally have a specific objective and a set destination in mind, instead of the abstract goal of "obtaining information about the outside world". She finally had a lead...and potentially, a fellow colleague! 

She smiled at her crewmates. Before she could thank them for giving her such important information and for helping her achieve her goal, a familiar voice echoed from a loudspeaker near the beach shore. "It's official, yall," Apoo declared. "The On-Air Pirates, the Kid Pirates, and the Hawkins Pirates are allies!" A series of loud airhorn blasts blared, and the On-Air Pirates loudly cheered and whooped. Minerva heard Kid, who was near the loudspeaker's microphone, quietly mutter something along the lines of: 'I already fucking regret this…'

"And now for the fun part," Apoo continued, striding towards the setup of food and drinks alongside Hawkins and Kid on either side of him. "Leeeeeet's PARTY!"

  
  
  



	18. Chapter 18

As the three pirate crews stormed the large buffet tables lined up on the beach, Minerva grabbed a bowl of rice with a savory-smelling sauce and chunks of beef and vegetables when she noticed that Killer was motioning for her to follow him. She complied, and saw that Killer had saved her a seat at the center table where the three captains were sitting alongside their first mates. When she sat down she was sandwiched between Killer and Kid on one side of the table, across from Apoo and Hawkins. Kid noticed that she'd only gotten one dish for herself and raised an eyebrow. "That all you're gonna eat?"

Minerva looked down at her bowl, which was filled to the brim with so much food that some of the sauce had dripped and run off the sides of the dish. "Actually, I'm not confident that I'll be able to finish it," she confessed. She looked back at her captain. "Wait, is it customary to eat more than one plate of food at these parties? I can get something else…"

Kid grabbed two bottles of sake and slid one of them to Minerva. "Nah, eat whatever you want," he replied. He smirked and cocked his head towards the bottle of sake in front of her. "It  _ is  _ rude to not have a drink, though."

Minerva uncorked the ceramic bottle and peered at the clear liquid inside. The smell of alcohol was so strong that her eyes immediately started to water. Apoo grinned at her from across the table, showing the black keys on his teeth. "Hold up, have you never had sake before?" He looked over at Kid. "And she's on  _ your  _ crew?"

"They don't have it on her island," Kid replied with a shrug, taking a few gulps from his own bottle. "Still, there's a first time for everything."

Minerva watched as Kid effortlessly downed his drink, and then she cautiously wrapped her fingers around her own bottle before taking an experimental sip; the cold liquid made her throat tingle when she swallowed, and her eyes widened at the new sensation. " _ Mehercule _ ," she cursed under her breath, suddenly shivering out of nowhere. "Ah, that…" She stuck her tongue out slightly; the sake wasn't bad by any means, but it was certainly different from anything she'd had in Romora. "This is definitely the strongest drink I've ever had."

When she looked back at Kid, he was grinning widely and snickering; she could also hear Apoo and a few of the other pirates at the table chuckling at her, and her cheeks felt warm. "What?"

Kid barked out a laugh. "That was barely a sip," he replied. "You might as well've stuck out your fuckin' pinky finger while you drank that little teeny bit!" 

Minerva looked back at the bottle of sake and decided to try taking a more sizable drink this time. "Ah, I see," she replied, picking up the bottle. "I assumed that because it was so strong, it was meant to be sipped." She held up the bottle and nodded firmly. "I'll do it properly this time." She put the bottle to her lips and took three large gulps of sake, and the surrounding pirates cheered her on. As the sake burned in her chest, she squinted and narrowed her eyes before setting down the bottle with a grimace. Killer gave her a thumbs-up, Apoo let out a small "Whoop!", and Kid clapped her on the back. " _ That's  _ how ya do it," he said approvingly. 

Minerva's head already felt a bit fuzzy, and her cheeks were warmer than usual as she felt that lingering burn in her chest from the sake. "Thanks for teaching me something new," she replied, her voice a bit more...slippery... than usual. She'd only had a few gulps of sake, and she was already tipsy. In order to try and compensate for her low alcohol tolerance, she ate some of her rice in order to sober up a bit. She smiled with her spoon in her mouth, and she sighed contentedly through her nose as she realized just how hungry she had been. The warm rice and meat settled comfortably in her stomach, and she looked over at Killer as he enjoyed a bowl of noodles, and then to her other side as Kid scarfed down a plate of rice balls filled with meat. "What exactly were the terms of the alliance?" 

Kid swallowed the rice balls that were stuffed in his mouth and took a few gulps of sake. "The usual shit," he replied. "No trying to sink each other's ships or kill anyone on another allied crew until Shanks is dead. Then it's back to business as usual." 

Minerva nodded. "Is there a plan to make our way to his territory?" 

Apoo set down his own sake bottle with a clang on the table. "No need to worry babe," he reassured. "We've got it all figured out!" He gesticulated and pantomimed a sailing path with his long arms. "Once we're all back in the New World, all we gotta do is take the easiest route to where he usually sails around and meet with him! The only real problem is gonna be when we hafta go through a few islands close to Wano--that's Kaido's territory. Buuut he's not likely to find us, since he usually stays holed up on Wano anyway." He used one of his long arms to reach for a skewer of grilled chicken. "Plus, your captain says he's got a sick little hideaway on an island that's smack dab in the middle of our route!"

"Kaido…" Minerva furrowed her brows as she took another gulp of sake. "That is...one of the other Yonkou, right?" She raised her free hand high over her head. "The very large one with horns protruding from his forehead?"

Apoo nodded. "That's the guy," he confirmed, drinking his sake. "Believe me, that guy is bad news. Speaking of news…" He crossed his arms and leaned on them to get a closed look at Minerva. "How'd you end up with  _ him _ ?" He bent his arm around and pointed at Kid.

"It was all by coincidence, really," Minerva replied nonchalantly. Even though her inhibitions were lowered by the sake, she still knew that she shouldn't mention anything about the Romoran kingdom. "I was mistakenly attacked by a group of Marines that he was attacking at the time, and once he saw me use my Devil Fruit, he and Hawkins thought that I was worth trying to save." She smirked and traced a finger around the label on her sake bottle. "One moment, I was trying to shield my boat from cannon fire, and then the next, I was soaring through the air as Kid pulled me to his ship by my trunk with his magnetism!" She snorted and covered her mouth as she blushed. "I was so shocked that my mind nearly went blank as I tried to process everything that had happened. The look on my face must have been priceless when I was lying face-up on the deck…"

Kid nodded. "You looked like a spooked deer," he replied with a smirk. "Thought your eyes were gonna pop outta your head when I first saw you."

Minerva chuckled and ate a few more bites of food with a small smile on her face in between bites. The thought of her staring up wide-eyed at the sky while she was stuck on the deck of Kid's ship like an overturned turtle was just so funny to her right now, and she couldn't stop laughing to herself. 

"Ohhh, so you've got a Devil Fruit," Apoo said. "I was wondering what kinda power you had that'd make Kid want you on his crew. So, whaddya got?"

Minerva looked up from her food and tapped her forehead. "I'm able to manipulate the neurological functions of whoever I'm touching," she replied, stumbling her words a bit when she said the word 'neurological'. "I can stimulate specific parts of the brain to slow or increase someone's processing speed, limit or enhance their cognitive abilities and memory capacity, etcetera." She twirled a stray curl of her ponytail. "I can also detect the brain activity of living organisms as a sort of radar."

Apoo whistled low. "Daaamn. I only understand, like….fifty percent of that," he replied. "Still, manipulatin' brains… that sounds dope as hell!"

Minerva cocked her head to the side. " 'Dope'? I don't know this word," she replied. "What does it mean, to be dope?"

Apoo smirked. "Ha! Right, Kid and Hawkins said you were from an island that was kinda far out." He shrugged. "No worries, though. 'Dope' is slang for cool, awesome, badass--stuff like that."

Minerva nodded silently and grinned when she finally processed what he'd just said in her drunken haze. "Ah, it's a compliment! I see, I see," she said. She clumsily reached behind her back to pull out her journal and stylus, and then flipped to a new page to write down this new bit of vocabulary. 

Apoo watched her with amusement and mild interest as she wrote; she really must've lived out in the sticks before joining up with Kid. After finishing his skewer of chicken and taking another swig of sake, he pointed one end of the wooden stick in his hand at her. "Yo, if you want, I could teach you some more slang! There's a whole bunch of words I bet you don't know on your little island."

Kid frowned as he drank another few gulps of sake. The last thing he needed was for Minerva to start talking like Apoo on his ship--just one of him was enough.

Minerva looked up and beamed at Apoo, and her smile made the pink spots on her cheeks even more noticeable. "Yes, of course!" She nodded firmly and her smile widened. "That would be very  _ dope _ ." 

Kid snorted midway through his drink and inhaled a decent amount of sake through his nose. He let out a choked mix between a laugh and a cough as he wiped his chin.  _ Okay, nevermind, _ he said with a drunken smirk.  _ Apoo always sounds annoying, but hearing  _ **_her_ ** _ say this shit is hilarious.  _ He grabbed another plate of onigiri to munch on while he watched the live entertainment at the table as Minerva learned about slang, repeating every word Apoo taught her with a studious tone of voice and trying her hardest to make her drunken words seem natural on her tongue.

Soon, Minerva's journal had an entire page filled with new words she had learned from Apoo. The Nocaligo language had  _ definitely _ evolved far beyond her father's textbooks in the past few centuries. "Hmmm," she mused, taking a sip of her sake before looking up at Apoo, who had been answering all of her linguistic questions with an amused smile and very animated hand movements when he explained something. "So the word 'sick' can be used within certain circumstances to describe something in a  _ positive  _ way?" She cleared her throat. "For example: this party is  _ sick _ . In this context, 'sick' would mean that the party is exciting or fun, right?"

Apoo gave her an elongated "OK" handsign with his fingers. "Yeah, now you're getting it!"

Minerva grinned and softly clapped her hands together. "Aaaah, I've learned so much about the modern language in just one day! This will  _ definitely  _ help my studies. Thank you!" She noticed that Kid was watching her from the corner of her eye and excitedly turned to show him her list of vocabulary. "Eustass, look! I've learned twenty new Nocaligo words in a single day," she said proudly, her words slightly slurred. Apoo and a few of the other nearby pirates at the table raised an eyebrow at her using Kid's first name all of a sudden, but Minerva didn't seem to notice.

Kid smirked at her earnest pride in learning such valuable words like "lit" and "sick", and at the rosy hue of her cheeks (and the tips of her ears) after half a bottle of sake. Before he could sarcastically say that he was proud of her, she scooted closer to him on the bench until their thighs were touching and then leaned closer to him so he could read what she'd written; if she were sober, she likely would have realized that Kid couldn't read Romoran and that because he had been watching her the entire time, he knew everything she'd learned from Apoo.

"Nocaligo really is a fascinating language," she mused, running her index finger down the page. "I learned that 'Yo' is a word that can be used as an imperative or interrogative address, but it can  _ also  _ be used as an imperative or declarative exclamation!" She looked up at Kid, who had simply blinked at her wordy explanation. "For example, if I wanted to greet you, I could say 'Yo, Captain! What's going on, yo?"" She smiled and gave him a short wave to emphasize her point. Apoo busted out laughing and buried his head in his arms; she was using it correctly, but every bit of slang still sounded  _ so  _ awkward coming out of her mouth. "Buuuut," she continued, "I could  _ also  _ change the tone of my voice and use it to express anger or indignation." She pouted and knit her eyebrows together in a dramatic display of anger. " _ Yo _ , Captain, I  _ told  _ you to stop calling me a nerd! Why do you keep doing that, yo?"

Kid heard Killer struggling to keep himself quiet as he quickly swallowed some noodles to stuff his mouth; he may have hated his laugh, but Minerva had managed to almost crack him up despite his usual steely composure. Kid laughed and set down his now-empty sake bottle. "Saying stuff like  _ that  _ is why I call you a nerd," he replied teasingly. 

Minerva chuckled and closed her journal before propping it up underneath her elbow, and rested her hand against her cheek while she leaned on the table. "Well, if a hearty interest in linguistics makes me a nerd, then I'm proud to accept the label," she declared. She stared off for a while as she rested against her hand, with a lingering smile on her face as her thoughts wandered.  _ I had my doubts about consuming alcohol, but this has actually been fun,  _ she thought.  _ I even managed to learn something new while I was drinking!  _ She noticed Kid's nonmetal arm was now inches away from her, and for the first time since meeting him, she saw that his nails were painted black.  _ I'm surprised he would do something like that, given how masculine he is,  _ she mused.  _ Hmm...then again, cosmetics may be considered masculine in other cultures. He wears lipstick too, after all--I shouldn't look at it from a Romoran perspective.  _ She peered at his fingertips and absentmindedly tapped her index finger against her cheek.  _ Now I'm wondering what he uses to paint his nails. Is it similar to what's used in Romora, or is it something else?  _

"What do you use to color your fingernails?" 

Kid looked at her strangely; that question came out of nowhere. He  _ had _ been wondering why she had started staring at his hand for the past few minutes, though. "Nail...polish?" He didn't know what else you'd use to paint your nails besides that. 

Minerva looked back at his hands. "Nail polish," she murmured. She looked back at Kid. "Would you happen to know what ingredients it's made of? In Ro--ahem, Austellus, some people paint their nails using  _ manus pingere _ ; I don't know the specifics, but it's a film-forming polymer dissolved in a certain solvent depending on what type of color or finish you want. Is your nail polish made of the same ingredients?"

Kid looked at her, then at his nails, and then back at her again. Even if he hadn't drank an entire bottle of sake, he doubted he would've been able to answer that. "...I dunno," he said with a shrug. 

Minerva narrowed her eyes and wrote down a note in her journal to research what kind of cosmetics were used in this world, and randomly remembered something that made her smile gently. The last time she had been interested in cosmetics was after noticing a book at the Austellus library; the cover was a bright display of kiss marks in a line, making a simple rainbow from the lipstick shades used (red, then a dark orange, then yellow, emerald green, etc). Initially she'd thought that it was a romance novel because of the kiss marks, but she had seen that it was in the historical section of the library and decided to leaf through it. Even if she didn't wear much makeup, it was still an interesting book about how Romorans had used pigments to color their hair, skin, and nails for various purposes.

When she thought of Austellus's library, her heart sank as she remembered what Heat, Wire, and Killer had told her about the destruction of Ohara and its archives. Her face fell, and Kid saw her shoulders droop a bit. Shit, she wasn't the kind of drunk to just switch emotions at the drop of a hat, was she? The last thing he wanted was to have a crewmate that was a know-it-all  _ and  _ a weepy drunk. 

Minerva furrowed her brows and pursed her lips as she thought about these Celestial Dragons in power. She had learned very little about them so far, but everything she'd heard made her dislike them more and more. What kind of leaders would be so opposed to letting their people learn about their government's history, unless they were ashamed of it? And even if they  _ were  _ ashamed, it was selfish and foolish of them to hide whatever they'd done instead of simply acknowledging it and attempting to move past it. "Who exactly  _ are  _ these Celestial Dragons that apparently rule over the World Government?"

Kid scowled at the mention of the World Government, and grabbed a fresh bottle of sake. "A bunch of bastards in power who deserve to die," he said bitterly, taking a large gulp of alcohol. " _ Really  _ fucking painfully. And really slowly."

Minerva frowned. "But why are they allowed to rule, if they're so widely disliked? Can the nations within the World Government not elect a new group to rule?"

Kid narrowed his eyes. "Elect? The fuck are you talking about?"

Minerva was taken aback by the harsh tone in his voice. The only form of rulers she'd ever known in Romora were the Emperor and members of the Senate, who were all elected to their positions. "Nobody mentioned it, so I assumed that these Celestial Dragons were like Senators and Emperors," she replied, blinking in confusion. She took another sip of sake. "They are chosen to rule if enough members of the public vote for them. Is the World Government run differently?"

Kid stared at her incredulously. She  _ really  _ thought that anyone would vote, would  _ choose _ to put those pieces of shit in power? "Nobody fuckin'  _ votes, _ " he said angrily. "They're all born into it, in that shining fucking city where they can look down at the rest of us! No, nobody fuckin'  _ voted  _ for 'em." 

Minerva's eyes widened. "It's an  _ inherited  _ position?" she spluttered. "But...why? That makes no sense! There's no guarantee that leadership capabilities will pass on genetically; what if there's someone more qualified for the position that isn't in the current ruler's family?"

"None of those fucks are 'qualified' to lead jack shit," Kid spat. "They're all spawn of the same 20 cocks that founded the World Government, so they get to do whatever they want with the Marines as their personal fuckin' army." His grip on his bottle tightened. "Invade other countries, kill people who even  _ look  _ at them, take whoever they want as slaves--"

"They own  _ slaves?"  _ Minerva's mouth dropped. This was preposterous. There was no way that a large governing body could institute one of the most ethically abhorrent practices in history and still be allowed to rule over a majority of the world! Romorans had outlawed slavery early into its founding, as it had no logistical or ethical merit after years of debate within the Senate. Her cheeks burned with anger, and she was too shocked by what she'd just heard to even bother trying to keep her composure. She stood up and crossed her arms. "What in the world is their justification for this?" she demanded, slamming her bottle down at the end of her sentence. "This--this is…" She took a large sip of cold sake to try and cool her down, but it had the opposite effect. "This would be  _ immediate  _ grounds for execution in R--Austellus," she said, quickly stopping herself from referring to Romora. "Gods' sake, this was the  _ exact  _ reason the  _ Tyrannis _ policy was created!"

The pirates at the table stared at her in confusion, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "There was an Emperor many decades ago, Caesar Augustus, who had become hated by the public after creating and passing multiple laws that were an attempt to restrict the rights of citizens," she explained hastily. "Initially he only proposed indentured servitude as punishment for criminals, but he had declared that the only way for our society to expand and reach its full potential was to use all methods of labor--including slavery. Unfortunately, Emperors at the time could only be removed from their position after committing a crime or under other specific circumstances that didn't apply to Augustus; and while it is morally disgusting and abhorrent, trying to use soft political action to gradually decriminalize slavery is not technically a crime." 

Her mouth was dry from speaking for so long, and she took another few gulps of sake. "So, the Senators decided that after ten years of Augustus's attempts to restrict the rights of citizens with high taxes, indentured servitude as punishment, and limiting the right to assembly outside of Senate meetings, they decided to take drastic measures to take Augustus out of power." She smirked and took another drink. "They invoked their right to assembly, called Augustus to come to an urgent meeting, and all 50 Senators hid a dagger under the robes. When the Emperor took his seat in the center of the auditorium, they all stabbed him to death."

Kid stared at Minerva in surprise, and slowly grinned. "That...is fucking...awesome," he declared, still smiling sadistically while he drank. "50 guys all stabbing that prick at once? Nice."

Minerva nodded in agreement. "When the next Emperor was elected, he absolved the Senators of murder and declared it was committed in self-defense and defense of every citizen that had been stripped of their legal rights," she explained matter-of-factly. "After that, the policy of  _ sic semper tyrannis  _ was created: if a future Emperor attempted to limit or restrict the rights of the country's citizens, members of the Senate could legally kill them and hold another vote to decide who the next Emperor will be." She furrowed her brows. "I'm surprised that there isn't a similar policy for the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. We came up with that centuries ago, and I assumed that this government might be more advanced than our own after all these years of isolation."

Apoo shrugged. "'Fraid not," he said with crossed arms. "And it seems like that law'd be easier to carry out with just one head honcho. There are a ton of Celestial Dragons, and even more leaders in the Marines." He smirked. "A whole bigass farm, filled with piggies!"

Minerva snorted again as she laughed, drunkenly imagining a farm full of pigs wearing Senator's robes and golden laurels on their soft little ears. "Pigs are too cute to be compared to a bunch of slavers," she objected as she tried to stifle her giggles. "They're more like...like..." 

"Ticks?" Kid spoke up, amused at how she'd done a complete switch from righteous indignation to giggling like a schoolgirl. He was glad he'd finally seen her get legitimately angry for once though, instead of being annoyed or pissy, like how she'd initially been on the ship. "They're bloodsucking parasites, so it fits, right?"

Minerva giggled even harder at the image of ticks wearing extremely tiny robes and even tinier crowns on their antennae, and Kid smiled wider as she buried her face into his shoulder and slapped her own thigh because she was laughing so hard. When her laughs finally subsided, she continued to lean against Kid and rest her head on his arm; that thick coat of his covered up most of his metal prosthetic, and she was hesitant to move her head from such a warm and comfy spot. Besides, her body felt much more heavy and cumbersome than it usually did. 

Kid poked her shoulder a few times to see if she'd passed out from drinking too much (well...too much by  _ her  _ standards). "Oi, you awake?" He poked her a few more times, and Minerva looked up from his arm to frown at him.

"Yo, captaaaain," she whined, "Would you please stop poking me?" Kid laughed, and just to annoy her, he poked her again. Minerva pouted and poked him back, and he poked her even harder in return. Before she could poke him back once again, she yawned and blinked sleepily. "Alright, alright, I concede," she murmured, rubbing her eyes and moving her head off of Kid's shoulder to rest it on the table. "I won't lay on your shoulder anymore."

Kid continued to poke her shoulder. "I didn't do it to get you off of my shoulder," he replied. 

Minerva frowned and squinted at Kid. "Then  _ why  _ are you doing it?"

Kid smirked and poked her again. "At first, it was just to see if you were asleep," he said. "But then I did it just to piss you off." He poked her lower arm. 

She let out a small, annoyed grunt as she tried to move her arm out of his reach. "You've definitely succeeded in your mission," she said flatly. Her eyelids felt heavier and heavier as she lay on the table, and Killer put a hand on her shoulder. 

"I'll take you back to the ship," he said, getting up from his seat. "You're clearly at your limit."

Minerva yawned and nodded. "I think you're right," she replied. "Hmmm...I  _ could  _ use my Rewire to sober up and keep myself awake. But…" She yawned again. "I don't know if I can stay awake long enough to do that." 

She rose up from her seat, only to immediately fall forward towards the table. She managed to catch herself just in time, but Kid still moved to yank her back by her shirt before she managed to land face-first into the plates of food; the sudden change in momentum made her fall back and to the side, causing her to land in Kid's lap. A few of the pirates at the nearby tables, Apoo  _ definitely  _ included, let out a few wolf whistles at the sight. Kid rolled his eyes, but there was a small smirk on his face as he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder before getting up from the table.

"Barely half a bottle of booze in ya, and you're barely able to stand up," he teased, patting her backside as he headed towards the shore to bring her back onto the Victoria Punk. "You really are a fuckin' princess, you know that?"

Minerva huffed and limply kicked him with one of her feet. "Is tossing me over your shoulder going to become a common occurrence from now on?" She crossed her arms before letting them hang below her, swaying a bit with every step Kid took; she was too tired and too drunk to be this indignant.

"I  _ could  _ just dump you on the beach to sleep this off," he replied, letting his grip on her slip just enough to make her freeze up and latch onto his shoulder to keep herself from falling. She tried to give him another feeble kick, but he only snickered when her foot lightly bounced against his stomach. "I thought Killer was training ya to fight; what the  _ hell  _ was that shitty little kick?"

"He hasn't taught me to fight while I'm being carried upside-down by a brute," Minerva countered playfully. "Though if you're going to carry me around like this all the time, he should probably train me to fight from this position." She let out a small gasp. "Ooh, I could cover myself with metal armor and then you could use your magnetism to send me flying through the battlefield!"

Kid shook his head while smiling and used his free hand to summon some of the spikes around the island to make a ramp to the ship. "Trust me, it won't work," he dismissed, climbing up the makeshift platform. "I tried that with Wire once, and he got knocked out once he hit the first group of Marines like a fucking bowling ball."

The two of them made their way onto the ship's deck, and he pushed open the door to the medbay before dropping her into her bed; she landed on her face, and didn't even move to lie on her back or her side as she sank into the mattress. Kid, hazily remembering a few incidents where drunken sailors had partied too hard only to choke on their own vomit in their sleep, rolled her onto her side in case she got sick while she tried to sleep off her first night of drinking. She squirmed a bit until she was under her sheets and shivered; the door was wide open, and the nighttime air was bone-chilling even with her two blankets. 

"Do you have any extra sheets I could borrow?" Kid shook his head, but since her eyes were closed she didn't realize he'd answered her question.

"We're fresh out, Princess," he replied dryly, turning to head out the door to go back to the party. "You'll be fine. There's plenty of booze in your system to keep you warm."

Too tired to even protest his usage of her nickname, she yawned and nodded. "Alright then," she said quietly, still shivering a bit. "G'night, Eustass…"

Kid stood in the doorway for a moment, watching her shake a bit from the cold even after she'd drifted off to sleep. He started to slip off his coat, and then stopped when he realized what he was about to do.  _ Why the hell am I coddling her? Being a little cold isn't gonna fucking kill her,  _ he thought irritably, pulling his coat back on.  _ She's a crewmate, not a baby. Besides, if I do that, she might think I'm going soft on her.  _

He started to leave, but for some stupid reason...he stopped and looked back at her, still shivering under the covers. He stared at her again for a few seconds, and then sighed through his nose before slipping off his coat again. "Goddammit," he muttered, "This is so fucking stupid." He tossed the coat over her blankets and loudly slammed her door shut behind him. If she woke up because of it, good; then she couldn't say that he was being nice to her. As he made his way back to the beach and to the rest of his crew, he tried to push down the lingering question of why he didn't want to leave her room without giving her his coat.  _ Whatever. I'm too buzzed right now to really think about that, and I'm not drunk enough to just  _ **_stop_ ** _ thinking about it either.  _ Once he was back at his seat, he grabbed his second sake bottle and chugged the last of it before taking another one while Apoo and his crew cheered him on.  _ Heh, I'm not drunk enough  _ **_yet._ **

  
  
  



	19. Chapter 19

When Kid returned to the party, he took a seat next to Killer where Heat, Wire, and Hawkins had left the table. Apoo noticed that Kid was back and grinned impishly. "Oh, you're back? I was expecting you to call it a night with Miss Minnie," he teased, handing Kid another bottle of sake. 

Kid uncorked his new bottle and leaned on the table while he drank. "I wasn't really in the mood," he replied sarcastically. "Not sure about you, but I'm not really into fucking someone who's passed out. Makes it hard for 'em to scream my name." 

Apoo shrugged. "Fair enough," he replied, taking a bite of some grilled steak on his plate. "To be real with ya though, she definitely isn't the kinda chick I figured you would be into. A bit too...I dunno, shy? Booksmart? I figured you'd be into someone a little louder, I guess."

Kid shook his head. "It ain't like that," he replied dismissively. "She's a crewmate, nothing else."

Apoo raised his eyebrows. From how he'd seen them interact, it seemed like there was something a bit more spicy going on between them--her leaning against him at the table a few times, calling him 'Eustass'...He wondered if they  _ were  _ together, why Kid wouldn't outright say it. It's not like the dude was the type to not want to kiss and tell. "Yeah? You know, I still don't get how that went down," Apoo said. "You see her getting put on blast by some Marines and you decide to save her?  _ And  _ have her join your crew?" Apoo smirked and grabbed his bottle of sake.. "Don't tell me you did that outta the kindness of your heart, man."

Kid rolled his eyes. "She wasn't on the crew at first," he countered. "She was a prisoner." Not wanting to reveal why he and Hawkins had wanted to keep her, he came up with a hasty lie. 'I figured I could get some use out of her, have her...I dunno, fix up our shit, cook, clean around the ship, and then once we got to the nearest island I could kill her  _ then  _ or sell her off to someone." He leaned back in his chair and drank more of his sake. "But when she mentioned she knew about medicine, I figured I could keep her as a doctor and made her part of the crew. Might as well put her Devil Fruit and her know-it-all ass to good use to patch up me and my crew after a fight, you know?"

Apoo nodded. "I gotcha, I gotcha," he replied slyly. "With how much you and your guys get into it, it's a good thing you've got her to play nurse and make you feel better afterwards." A few of his crew members smirked and nudged each other. 

Kid simply scowled and continued to drink his sake; normally he'd want to kick his ass for mouthing off about one of his nakama, but he tended to mellow out a bit when he was buzzed. Still, he didn't get why Apoo was so fixated on him and Minerva being a thing. It was so...stupid. Made no sense. Yeah, she was hot, but way too prissy and bookish for _him_ to be into. Maybe if she was a proper fighter or showed a bit more fire in her like when she was talking shit about the Celestial Dragons, he might be interested. I mean it was kinda cute the way she'd talk back to him sometimes, calling him a brute in that hoity-toity tone of hers, but hearing her finally raise her voice and talking about stabbing the bastards in power was more his speed. If she was more like that, he might want to hook up with her. _Maybe._ His scowl deepened. Why the hell was he thinking about this so much? 

Killer leaned back a bit in his seat next to Kid's and faced Apoo. "Are you going to come with Hawkins and our ship? Having so many Supernovas in one place might attract some unwanted attention. Normally I wouldn't mind that, but we should all try to get back to the New World as soon as possible." He slurped a few noodles through his mask. "Taking out everyone who would try to attack us wouldn't be difficult, but it would definitely slow us down."

"I will for a bit, but once we get close to Sabaody I've got a few side gigs I've gotta take care of," Apoo replied. "Nothing major, it should only take me a day or so to get done." Killer's eyes narrowed underneath his mask. Like Kid, he didn't trust Apoo as far as he could throw him; still, he didn't want to seem too suspicious of him so soon after they'd agreed to make an alliance. He made a note to tell Hawkins he might want to keep an eye on Apoo's whereabouts over the next few days, and that if he could spare one of his men being gone he could try tailing his ship as he went to these "side-gigs."

Apoo gave Kid and Killer a thumbs-up. "Don't sweat it, though--I'll still be able to meet you guys in the New World." He finished his bottle of sake and tossed it into the sand nearby with a flourish, and let out a small "whoop!" that (thanks to his instrumental body) sounded almost like the trill of a saxophone. "Damn, I haven't had sake this good in a loooong time!" He flashed a grin at Kid. "Being in an alliance with you's really got its perks."

Apoo started an impromptu celebratory jam session using his body parts, and his crew eagerly listened and played along with him using their glasses as percussion. While they were all occupied, Kid glanced down the table where Heat and Wire were. Heat was entertaining some of Hawkins's and Apoo's crewmates by drinking some alcohol and using it as fuel as fire shot from his throat in all sorts of elaborate shapes. Judging by the pink spots on his cheeks that Kid could see, even from his far seat at the table, he was clearly plastered and having a blast. Wire was being a wallflower as usual nearby, silently watching Hawkins and Apoo and occasionally glancing at the docked Victoria Punk in the distance. 

Not wanting a front row seat to Apoo's drunken concert, Kid got up and motioned for Killer to follow him to the other end of the table. The two of them sat close to Heat and Wire, and Hawkins looked up from his tarot spread when he saw them sit at the table. "We should sail before noon tomorrow," he said, absentmindedly shuffling his cards with one hand. "It seems that there are more Marine ships in these waters than usual, and dealing with them will just slow us down as we make our way to the Archipelago." He pulled out a card with an illustration of an upside-down tower, and frowned. "Hmm...why are they so interested in the routes to Sabaody…" He went back to his cards, muttering to himself and staring intently at every spread he created on the table.

Killer turned to face Hawkins, and (when none of Apoo's crewmates were nearby) told him about their new ally's alleged business that would keep him occupied over the next few days. "Even if it's nothing, I don't know if we should risk being kept in the dark about what he's up to," he explained. "If he had all this business coming up, why wouldn't he have mentioned it to us during negotiations earlier?"

Hawkins slid a tarot card from his deck and peered intensely at it for a moment. "Hmm…" He set it back into the deck again and nodded at Killer. "I'll have one of my men keep track of his movements," he replied. "One of them has family connections to the merchant ships in this area, and he can see what islands Apoo is visiting." He tented his fingers. "Ideally it would be best to have one of the merchants investigate  _ on  _ the islands, but I don't want to risk Apoo noticing that he's being watched." The two pirates looked off the side as Apoo continued to jam out with his crew, using his arm to perform a very energetic flute solo. "He's more perceptive than people think...and more deadly."

Killer turned back next to Kid and grabbed a bamboo straw for his beer. Kid was staring off and frowned as he watched Wire frequently look across the waves at the ship, then back to the ocean, and then the ship again. "Why the hell do you keep looking back at the ship so much?"

Wire shrugged and raised his tankard to his lips. "I'm on lookout."

"For what?"

Wire smirked behind his glass. "Stuff worth looking at." He set his tankard down and eyed Kid. "How's Minerva?"

Heat grinned at his captain. "We heard her going off about the Celestial Dragons a while ago all the way from here," he said. "It was weird to hear her sound so pissed off about something. Well...something that wasn't you, Kid." The four of them snickered, and there was a short silence as they glanced at the Victoria Punk where their newest crewmate was sleeping. "You think she's gonna be ready to fight soon, Killer? We might run into some trouble on the way to Sabaody, and we'll have plenty of fights in the New World. Is she gonna keep up with us?"

Killer mulled it over and looked down at his mug of beer. "I've been training her every day," he replied with a shrug. "Her only real issue is when it comes to following through with attacks, but that's hard to teach when all she can do is spar." He grabbed a thin bamboo straw and drank his beer through his mask for a bit. "She's gonna need to get into some actual life-or-death battles before she understands what she's gotta do to fix that."

The rest of the Kid Pirates nodded in agreement. They knew firsthand that fighting wasn't something you could learn unless it was through experience; you couldn't know how to fight to kill until you faced an opponent that was hellbent on killing you. Heat frowned and tucked one of his dreads behind his ear. "Shiiiit, you don't think she's gonna freak out or anything the first time she kills someone, do you?"

Kid snorted and downed more of his sake. "Who cares? If she isn't able to move on from something like that, she isn't strong enough to be on this crew." He scowled and cleaned one of his fingernails with his teeth. The last thing he needed was her going into hysterics over one dead Marine or some other random nobody. If she was going to fall apart like that, he'd take her off the crew and just keep her as a prisoner like before; even if he needed her to take down Shanks, having a coward like that on  _ his  _ crew would be a complete disgrace as a captain. 

The rest of them continued to drink, joking, reminiscing, and playfully shit-talking with each other as the night went on. More and more emptied bottles of sake littered the sand around them, and the four of them stumbled back to the Victoria Punk as the hazy light of morning began to slowly appear through the dark sky behind them. They were still laughing and rowdily pushing each other around all the way up the metal ramp Kid had made, and Heat dramatically hushed them. "Guys, guys, she's probably sleepin'," he said in a loud whisper. "We gotta...we gotta shhh, shhhh. She's sleepin'."

Kid laughed. "So? She can just use her brain thing on herself if she's tired." He puffed out his chest a bit as he sauntered across the deck to head to his room. "B'sides, I can be as loud as I fuckin' want, 'cuz I'mmmm  _ captain _ of this ship." The other pirates tried (and failed) to stifle their laughter as Kid stumbled in the opposite direction of where his room was and watched him walk directly into the door of the clinic. Kid scowled and fell back a few steps, cursing at the door. 

Heat snorted and walked over to turn Kid around to the hallway he'd meant to walk to. "Well if she wasn't awake before, she sure as shit is now," he said with a laugh. "Come on cap, I'll lead the way."

Killer and Wire snickered behind him as the four of them stumbled down the hall to get some sleep in their respective rooms as the sun began to slowly rise over the horizon. The wooden door to the clinic slowly opened, and Minerva peered out onto the deck. Her hot plate rested on the table behind her, heating up a kettle of hot water for a cup of morning tea. Judging by the lack of bags under her non-bloodshot eyes and the faint afterglow of her irises as they faded back to their usual grey, she had apparently used her Devil Fruit to erase the effects of her hangover the moment she woke up from Kid's abrupt stop face-first into her door. "Are they just  _ now  _ coming back to the ship?" She tucked a messy strand of hair behind her ear and headed to the kitchen to grab a spare mug. Through the wooden walls of the ship, she could hear the faint sounds of her crewmates settling into their hammocks and Kid snoring in the captain's quarters, already in a deep sleep. Minerva smirked and quietly made her way back to her cabin with her mug in her hand.  _ I'll let them sleep for as long as I can,  _ she mused, settling into her chair as she poured her morning tea.  _ It'll be noisy as usual when they wake up and demand that I reverse the effects of their hangovers.  _ She glanced back at the crack of daylight that slowly began to turn the sky a golden-orange shade, enjoying the view before returning to her copy of  _ Meditations, Book II. Until then, I'm going to enjoy this rare moment of peace and quiet.  _


	20. Chapter 20

Minerva's minutes of peace slowly turned into hours; before long she had finished reading her book, made and drank a second cup of tea, tidied her room, took stock of her medical supplies, and still hadn't heard a peep from her other crewmates. When she'd walked out to the kitchen and rinsed her mug, she tried to listen over the gentle sound of the morning waves for any sign of movement on the ship. It was almost ten in the morning now, and the sun shone brightly amidst a few stray clouds in the sky; if they were going to set sail today, shouldn't they do it sooner rather than later?

She heard the faint sounds of her shipmates snoring coming from a few rooms over as she leaned against one of the kitchen walls. After a few seconds, she realized she also heard something else, a muffled but consistent sound: "Purupuru, purupuru...purupuru, purupuru…"  _ Is that...a Recens snail?  _ Minerva left the kitchen and crept down the hallway as she followed the source of the noise. When she found herself outside of the captain's quarters, listening as the snail's calls grew louder--it was definitely Eustass's DenDen Mushi, and by the sound of snoring coming from the room, he definitely wasn't going to answer it. 

Minerva slowly opened the creaky doorknob and stepped inside. She'd never had a chance to see the captain's quarters for herself yet, and the lingering smell of something strong and acidic took her by surprise. A container of metal polish was left slightly opened on a nearby table, and she recognized that as the source of the strange scent. Clothes littered the bottom of the floor and empty green, brown, and white bottles were scattered alongside them. A large king-sized bed was on the far side of the room and Kid was lying sprawled on his back, with a few blankets covering him from the waist up. 

_ His snail is probably in his coat pocket, as usual,  _ Minerva thought to herself. One glance at Eustass showed that he wasn't wearing his coat--or his shirt, for that matter. Minerva silently prayed that he was at least wearing a pair of pants underneath those blankets and looked around for his long black jacket. After a few moments of searching, she saw a large pile of fluffy black cloth on the floor near one corner of the bed; the sound of the DenDen Mushi was insistent, if a bit muffled, as it rang inside of Eustass's pocket. She stepped around the stray bottles and lifted Kid's coat to carefully take his DenDen Mushi out of its pocket.

The snail recognized Minerva and gave it a small, affectionate rub against her pal with one of its eye stalks as it continued to ring. "Purupuru purupuru. Purupuru--gatcha." Minerva picked up the receiver and held it to her ear. Even if she doubted her voice would wake Eustass up from his deep sake-induced slumber, she still tried to speak as quietly as possible while still being heard. "Hello? You've reached Eustass Kid's Re--Ah, DenDen Mushi."

"...Minerva?" The voice was slightly husky and almost monotone, and she instantly recognized it.

"Yes. Basil Hawkins?"

"Yes," he replied. "Where is Kid? I've been trying to get ahold of him so that the three of us could leave before noon."

Minerva glanced back at Eustass. "He and the rest of the crew are still asleep," she said. "I think they're still recovering from last night."

She heard a small sigh come from the other end of the call. "Could you use your Devil Fruit to wake them and then quickly reduce the effects of their hangovers? Something that will delay our journey to the next island is fated to arrive here in the afternoon."

"I can do that," Minerva confirmed. "It should take about ten minutes to wake and then Rewire all of them."

"I'll leave it to you, then. Goodbye."

Hawkins abruptly hung up, and Minerva set the DenDen Mushi down on top of a small nearby table.  _ Since I'm already here, I might as well wake Eustass up first,  _ she reasoned. She carefully made her way over to the bed, sidestepping the clothes and bottles on the floor until she was standing only a foot or so away from him as he slept. His metal prosthetic was on a nightstand on the other end of the bed, and Minerva took a moment to try and examine the infection on Kid's arm. It seemed that her minimal treatment had actually worked quite well; the redness around his prosthetic's socket had faded quite a bit after only a few weeks.

Her eyes traveled up to his face, and she stared at him for a short while. It was strange to see his features so slack and relaxed, without a scowl or cocky grin on his face. Part of her never thought that she would see Kid of all people looking so...peaceful.  _ Oh, that's a bit dramatic,  _ she thought with a slight frown.  _ He may be a brute, but I suppose that brutes still have their moments of calmness and peace. _ She smirked and watched Kid sleep soundly.  _ Even if it  _ **_is_ ** _ from an alcohol-induced slumber, of all things. _

Minerva blinked and brought herself back to the task at hand--waking up her hungover captain. She leaned over and summoned the courage to try and wake Kid up. "Eustass," she said softly. Her voice was barely audible over the snore that came from him. She cleared her throat and spoke up again, a little louder this time. "Eustass.. _. _ " After a few more attempts to wake him up verbally, she bit her lip and reached down with one hand to try and physically rouse him. She put her hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. "Eust--"

Kid's eyes snapped open at the touch of a stranger and he immediately grabbed her arm, causing her to fall onto the bed with a sharp gasp. He swiftly pinned her and as he shoved his hand against her throat, he realized that it wasn't an intruder who had woken him up--it was her. "M'nerva?" His grip on her throat relaxed, but he didn't move his hand off of her. "The hell're you doing in here?"

Minerva swallowed nervously and tried to slow her racing heartbeat with a few deep breaths. "Hawkins was calling your DenDen Mushi," she explained shakily. "He said that the three ships should leave soon before the threat he predicted would arrive."

Kid's eyes narrowed. "Why were you using _my_ DenDen Mushi?" Nobody touched his shit without permission. _Nobody._

"Because you weren't answering it," Minerva retorted matter-of-factly. "I tried multiple times to wake you up without touching you, but you clearly weren't able to hear me." She placed her hand on his wrist. "Now that you're awake and you see that I'm not some assassin or Marine, could you get your hand off of my throat?"

Kid's scowl turned into a wince as he felt a pounding in his head; he noticed how dry his mouth was, and a familiar feeling of nausea settled in his stomach. "First things first," he replied, "Do your brain shit and fix my hangover."

Minerva pursed her lips as she raised her other arm to touch Kid's forehead. "This ability is called  _ Rewire _ ," she said with a frown. "Referring to it as 'brain shit' is such a vague term--"

"How about you tell me about what fancy word you want me to call your brain shit  _ after  _ this fucking headache is gone," Kid retorted with a small groan. "Right now, you're just making it worse."

Minerva rolled her eyes, but she remained silent as she used her ability. Her irises glowed pink as she reversed the negative effects of Kid's hangover, and when they faded back to grey, she looked up at Kid. "How do you feel?"

Kid exhaled softly as he felt the dull ache in his skull gradually fade away, along with the nausea in his stomach and his dry mouth.

"Much better," he replied, letting go of Minerva's neck and rolling out of bed to put on his prosthetic. As he got up, the blanket covering his lower half fell off of the bed and Minerva quickly averted her eyes when she saw that Kid was completely nude.

"...Do you always sleep completely naked?"

Kid caught a glimpse of her pink cheeks and how she was intentionally trying not to look at him, and he smirked. "What's the matter," he teased, "See something you liked?"

Minerva's cheeks felt even warmer, and she crossed her arms. "I didn't  _ see _ anything at all," she insisted. "The moment I realized you weren't covered, I looked away."

"Didn't realize you were so modest," Kid said sarcastically, putting on a pair of boxers. "Then again, you  _ are  _ a prude, so it ain't that surprising."

Minerva glared at Kid, and she looked straight at him as he was still in the middle of pulling up his boxers. He raised an eyebrow as he saw her watching him, barely affected by seeing him still uncovered. "I couldn't care less about  _ modesty _ ," she replied. "At least, not in a superficial way like a lack of clothing. It was just an instinctive reaction to realizing you were naked, which I...I wasn't expecting."

Kid shrugged and pulled the band of his boxers around his waist, finally covering himself. "I get hot when I've been drinking," he replied simply. "And I was too tired to crack open the window, so I just took my clothes off."

Minerva nodded. "I see," she mused. "I Rewired the effects of your hangover, but once the others are awake I'll get some water for you to drink. If you were warm all night, you're probably dehydrated." She got up to leave, and Kid took the opportunity to tease her one last time. 

"With how red your face is, you should probably get a drink to cool down too, Princess." He saw her cheeks turn an even deeper shade of pink, and he laughed. "Ah, don't be so upset. You aren't the first chick to get hot n' bothered after getting a look at me like that."

Minerva clenched her jaw and quickly walked out the door, her face burning as with embarrassment.  _ Why am I so upset? I  _ **_know_ ** _ he's just trying to provoke me, so why am I still so affected by his immature teasing?  _ She raised one hand to her head and used her Devil Fruit to lower her body temperature and heart rate, and she made her way to the rest of the crew's barracks.  _ I just have to try and keep my cool whenever he tries to embarrass me again. Once he sees he can't affect me, he should stop trying to do it.  _

As she walked down the hall and heard Kid muttering to himself, she couldn't get the image of him in the middle of putting his boxers on out of her head, and she had no idea why she was so fixated on it. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried to lower her body temperature again, but afterwards she still felt that her face was annoyingly warm. Even with her sound logic and her Rewiring her brain, she still couldn't get him out of her head.  _ Ugh, even when he isn't nearby, he still finds ways to pester me! How can one ignorant brute be so talented at getting under my skin!?  _


	21. Chapter 21

Minerva made her way to her other crewmates and promptly woke them up with a quick Rewiring of their hangover symptoms. Luckily for her, their reflexes weren't quite as hostile as Kid's; the most startling reaction she got from them was when Wire let out a long, deafening snore the instant Minerva held out her hand to touch him. Once the three of them were awake and no longer hungover, they headed out to set sail alongside Hawkins's ship. After spending a few weeks on the crew, Minerva had learned quite a bit about how to help keep the Victoria Punk running. Kid pulled up the anchor using his Devil Fruit, she, Heat, and Wire unfurled the sails, and Killer expertly steered the ship until it was on the proper course to the next island. 

Once they were moving with the wind, Killer headed to the kitchen to make breakfast for the rest of the crew. Minerva settled in her usual spot on the main deck, writing in her journal about what she had learned last night about the Tenryubito, the interesting anatomy of Scratchman Apoo, and her first time drinking sake. She had just finished sketching Apoo with a few added notes about the origins behind his peculiarly long arms when she heard the caw of a bird overhead. She looked up and to her surprise, the bird flying above the ship was a) wearing a hat and b) carrying a parcel of rolled up papers. Her eyes widened and she tried to wave Wire and Heat over while they lounged nearby. "Wire, Heat, look at that bird up there," she said excitedly--and quietly, to avoid spooking the winged messenger.

Her two crewmates looked up and noticed the bird, but they weren't as enthralled by it as Minerva. "Huh, we haven't gotten any news in a while," Heat remarked, raising his eyebrows. 

The bird dropped a few copies of its rolled up papers and Minerva bent down to see just what was written on them. "This is...a newspaper?" She unfolded one of them and saw the World Government logo proudly displayed on the front page, and scowled. "Hmph. I doubt the information inside will be objective, but…" She looked back up to see where the bird had gone, and she noticed it had changed course and was headed towards Hawkins's ship. "What a curious method of delivery," she mused. She looked back at Heat and Wire. "What kind of bird is that?"

"News Coo," Wire replied, taking a copy of the paper for himself and tossing one to Heat. 

"They fly all over the world and distribute new copies," Heat explained. "Articles about the latest shit that the Marines think is worth mentioning, wanted posters, aaand…" He turned to a specific page and showed Minerva a comic strip featuring several costumed figures. "Sora, Warrior of the Sea!"

Minerva looked at the comic, eager to see her first example of modern Nocaligo artwork. "Oh, what an interesting art style," she murmured, taking out her stylus and diary to try and draw a copy of one panel for reference. She frowned as she read the strip. "The story is a bit more...simple...than what I'd prefer. And if I had to make an educated guess, this comic is some kind of propaganda." She assumed it was meant for children and teens, given the simplistic black-and-white morality and plot of the strip; the great warrior of the sea was clad in a white uniform that obviously mirrored that of the Marines, and he was the valiant protagonist fighting these caped villains that were causing chaos throughout the sea. Minerva tilted her head slightly and continued to read the comic, interested in how the current fight scene would end. "But for what's likely a piece of propaganda, it does have a certain charm to it." She and Heat read the comic panels together, and she listened intently as Heat tried to explain the lore behind Sora and the rest of the cast.

While Heat was in the middle of critiquing Poison Pink's original wing and costume design, Killer poked his head out from the doorway to the kitchen and cupped his hand to call out to the others. "Food's ready!" The crew all hurried inside to grab a plate and eat; even after all they'd eaten last night at the feast, their stomachs still growled when they smelled the sausage and eggs that Killer had served up. Minnie sat next to Killer with her plate and a cup of coffee nearby. After she noticed Kille glancing over her shoulder at the pages, she moved so he could read alongside her.

Kid looked up at the front page after he'd scarfed down the food on his plate. "Anything major goin' on, Killer?" 

Killer shook his head, and then cooked his head slightly after Minerva had turned the page. "Huh," he remarked, lifting up his mug to sip his coffee through one of his straws. "Looks like some of Straw Hat's crew was sighted a few days ago."

Kid raised an eyebrow, and Minerva peered intently at the headline. "Straw Hat Luffy," she mused. The name sounded familiar, and she frowned as she tried to remember where she'd heard that name before. "Wait, isn't he the captain of Nico Robin's crew?" 

"Yep," Wire replied, adding some extra sugar to his coffee. "He's...interesting."

"Annoying," Kid replied irritably. "That kid is fuckin' annoying. Still…" He cut up a large bite of eggs. "He's pretty damn strong, for a scrawny rubber brat."

Minerva frowned and ate a few pieces of her breakfast. "Rubber? Is he particularly flexible?"

"He's got the Gomu Gomu Fruit," Heat explained. "He can stretch and squish himself like he was made of...you know, rubber.:

Minerva raised her eyebrows and reached into her pocket to write down the name of this Fruit, and whatever else she could learn about Nico Robin's captain. "I see...Hmm, I wonder if he's actually _made_ of rubber, or if his flesh, skin, and muscles are just altered to be as flexible as rubber...Does he know how to use any kind of Haki?"

"He didn't use it when we saw him fight," Killer replied. "Still, we've all gotten stronger over the past two years; I wouldn't be surprised if he had some skill in Conqueror's or Armament at the very least."

Minerva continued to read the article, and took notes on the Straw Hat Pirates in her notebook in between sips of coffee. "According to this article, Luffy himself hasn't been sighted," she said. "There were eyewitness reports of a man that fit the description of the crew's cook, Black Leg Sanji, at one of the islands near Sabaody--blond hair, black suit, curly eyebrows...hm. There were also incidents of a green-haired swordsman destroying ships and clashing with various pirate crews along the coast of an island fifty miles east of Sabaody, and this could be the crew's first mate Roronoa Zoro. Apparently the eyewitnesses reported that the swordsman had wondered out loud if he was on 'the right island' and had asked the villagers if he was near the Sabaody Archipelago." She furrowed her brows. _Mercury's wings, I hope he isn't their navigator…_

When she turned the page, a small stack of small posters fell from in-between the next two pages onto the table. Minerva bent down to pick them up and looked at what was written on them. "Are these wanted posters?" She peered at the photos on the pages and names in bold letters beneath them. The first one she saw was of a green-haired man with tanned skin, and she recognized the name printed under the photo immediately. "Ah, this is Roronoa Zoro!" She looked across the table at Kid. "Do all of copies of these newspapers come with wanted posters?"

Kid shrugged. "If they're one of the pirates they've written about, yeah," he replied casually. "After shit went down at Sabaody, me, Law, Straw Hat, and a ton of other pirates there got their posters sent out with the article about us."

Minerva flipped through the other posters, reading the small print towards the bottom of the page that provided some basic information about each target. "So, these are the Straw Hat Pirates," she muttered, opening her notebook to copy down what was written on each poster. "Hmm. It seems that Nico Robin is the only academic among them, or the only one that specializes in archeology and history at least." She looked down at Robin's poster for a moment. It was nice to finally have a face attached to her name--and a beautiful one at that, with an elegant aquiline nose and mysterious intense gaze. 

Kid watched Minerva as she stared at the posters, growing increasingly annoyed with just how interested she was in Straw Hat's crew. She may be fresh off the boat from Romora--or, _on_ the boat from Romora? Ugh, whatever. She may be new to the world of pirates, but that doesn't mean she had to start tracking every move some other crew made just because Nico Robin was there. "You gonna hang those on your fuckin' wall?" 

The sarcasm in his voice didn't register in Minerva's head as she wrote down quick notes on each member of the Straw Hat Pirates from their posters. "No," she replied absent-mindedly, "I'd prefer to put them in my trunk or fold them up to put in one of my journals, just to keep as a reference when we reach the Sabaody Archipelago." She finished the last of the food on her plate and carried her dishes to the sink, and then stacked the posters neatly on top of her newspaper. "I should update my audio journal too," she said, almost to herself. "I've gotten a lot of new information from this newspaper, and I want to record what I've learned while it's still fresh in my mind." She headed out of the kitchen to the outer deck with an excited bounce in every step as she headed to her room. "If you need something from me, please knock on my door!"

Kid rolled his eyes at her last request. " _If you need something, please knock on my door,"_ he thought to himself, exaggerating Minerva's voice as much prissier and higher-pitched. _What kinda fuckin' pirate asks people to knock? I'm her captain, and this is my ship; I'll_ **_kick_ ** _that fuckin' door open if I feel like it._ He watched her walk to the clinic door, eating half of a sausage in one bite as he eyed her straightened back and caught a glimpse of the small, excited smile on her face as she glanced down at her journal filled with posters. He stared off in her direction and leaned back in his chair. _Wonder what epithet they'll give her on her wanted poster_? He smirked as he imagined a few posters with various funny epithets that he'd want on there, as well as the pissed-off look on her face when she'd read them: "Minerva D. Colossa-l Nerd, Princess Minnie, Braniac...Kid's eyes wandered lower to enjoy a quick peek at her hips before she closed the door behind her. Hey, she may have been prissy and a know-it-all, but a nice ass is a nice ass no matter who it's attached to.

Heat, Wire, and Killer noticed how long Kid had been staring at Minnie and smirking to himself, and the three of them exchanged a knowing look before they got up to pile their dishes in the sink. Kid tossed his plate to Heat and left to go to his workshop and tinker with a few designs he had for a new prosthetic arm, while the others went to check on the speed of the ship and navigate the route to the next island. Killer was the first to speak up. "If they aren't together by the time we reach the New World, I owe you both 2000 Berries." Heat and Wire chuckled, and the three of them shook hands to officially seal the deal before going back to work.


	22. Chapter 22

Minerva excitedly searched for her commentarius and pressed the record button on the metal recorder. "Day 33," she started, sitting cross-legged on her bed in the clinic. "I've learned quite a bit about the crew that Nico Robin is a part of, the Straw Hat Pirates. The World Government has a newspaper that's delivered via a bird known as a News Coo, and these newspapers usually have copies of wanted posters for some of the subjects of the articles. Today's issue featured a few rumored sightings of some of the Straw Hats, and I now have posters of all members of their crew!" 

She opened her notebook to read some of her copied-down information aloud. "Luffy, the captain, has eaten the Gomu-Gomu Fructeus. The specifics of his ability aren't written on the poster, but Eustass and the others told me that he can stretch his body as if it were made of rubber. I wonder if he could insulate his body from electricity...hmmm, if he was in cold enough temperatures, would he be unable to use his Devil Fruit? So many possibilities…"

She was quiet for a moment before realizing that she was still recording. "Oh! Yes, um, there are other members of his crew, obviously," she said hastily. "Roronoa Zoro, the first mate and a talented swordsman. He was allegedly sighted near where the crew was last together, an island archipelago called Sabaody…Nami, a cat burglar--does she specifically steal cats, or is this some sort of colloquial phrase? Is stealing cats a significant offense? It says here that she's the crew's navigator, so I'd like to consult with her and Robin. Usopp, who appears to be some sort of marksman...his nose is quite unique; it isn't aquiline like Robin's, but it is still quite attractive by Romoran standards. Not that appearances matter, I suppose--"

Her eyes widened as she looked down at one of the posters she'd only briefly scanned to write about in her journal. Usopp's appearance was unique, but this next pirate looked absolutely baffling. "Cyborg Franky, the shipwright." She peered at the poster, focusing on the metal rivulets and machinery that seemed to be one with his actual body. His upper arms were gigantic, and his nose seemed as though it were entirely metal. "By the gods, he appears to be some sort of...human-automaton hybrid," she remarked excitedly. "This isn't just a complicated prosthetic like Eustass's arm, this is clearly much more complex!" Her eyes drifted lower to look for more interesting aspects of Franky, and finally noticed that he was very sparsely dressed in a pair of dark glasses, an unbuttoned floral shirt, and a very small pair of black...shorts? Undergarments? Fashion outside of Romora certainly was interesting. "Note: investigate the fashion history of Nocaligo cultures. It seems quite varied, from what I've seen so far. Anyway, on to the rest of the crew."

She frowned as she looked at the poster for Black Leg Sanji, the crew's chef. "Hmm...this poster doesn't contain an actual photo," she said aloud, narrowing her eyes at the simple and flat nature of the "photo" of Sanji. "This is clearly a drawing. Did a newspaper employee or a Marine alter Sanji's picture as a kind of prank?" She set the poster down and glanced towards the door leading to the kitchen; she could definitely see someone like Eustass doing something like that. Actually...no, Eustass would do something far more reckless and violent as a prank. 

"The next poster is also a bit odd," Minerva remarked, holding up the poster of a small, cheerful-looking animal called Tony Tony Chopper. "Why in the world would the World Government issue a wanted poster for a _pet_? It seems frivolous to me, especially considering how low its bounty is compared to the actual crew members." She rolled her eyes and moved on to the last two wanted posters. "Humming Brook, who seems to be a musician as well as a pirate." She smiled fondly at the poster; it was comforting to know that entertainers were valued outside of Romora, at least to pirates. "I hope there are other music genres besides what Apoo plays," she muttered, cringing as she remembered the loud music that was constantly blaring from his ship when she had met him and his crew. "Perhaps I could learn how to play an instrument on my travels…"

She looked down at the final poster, and her heart raced a bit as she looked down at the Straw Hat she wanted to meet most of all. "And Nico Robin, the archaeologist," she said aloud. "The only survivor after the destruction of Ohara by the World Government, and a Fructeus user as well. She has the Hana Hana no Mi, and can apparently create additional appendages and body parts anywhere on her body." She glanced at the array of hands covering the camera and smirked. "She seems especially fond of creating extra hands. I wonder...how does her brain handle the creation of so many new nerve endings at once with these limbs? The connection between them and her brain stem would have to occur almost instantly; maybe her Fructeus vastly improves her brain's processing speed and overall ability?" She scribbled her theories and questions about Robin's Devil Fruit into her journal as she continued to record her voice.

"I know that meeting her at Sabaody isn't guaranteed," she conceded, "We could arrive before any of the Straw Hats do, or much later. They may not journey there at all, the news article could simply be misinformation…" She nibbled on the end of her stylus nervously and ran a hand through her hair. "There are so many variables and factors that I can't possibly take into account!" She sighed through her nose and leaned back on her bed. "But I can't get bogged down by hypotheticals. And even if it isn't a guarantee that I'll meet Nico Robin and exchange research with her, I'm still excited about it," she said with a smile. "I'm...I'm cautiously optimistic, I suppose. I just hope I can keep my composure when I have the chance to meet my first colleague outside of Romora. Imagine all the things she could tell me about the world and its history while we've been isolated!"

With that final note, she moved forward to end her entry by pressing the 'stop' button on her commentarius. Before she managed to end the recording, she jumped at the sudden sound of her cabin door being abruptly kicked open and let out a small surprised "Oh!" Her intruder turned out to just be Kid, who smirked at the little squeak she'd let out. Minerva crossed her arms and glared at her captain. "I _specifically_ asked you all to knock if you needed me," she snapped.

Kid shrugged and leaned against the doorframe. "Didn't need you," he replied with a smirk.

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you here?"

His cocky grin widened. "I'm bored, and I wanted to see how pissed you'd get when I kicked your door in."

Minerva rolled her eyes. _Typical._ "I see. Well, I hope my reaction was worth you doing something so juvenile," she replied dryly. She shifted in her seat and noticed the tape inside of her recorder was still spinning, and that her commentarius was still recording. "Oh, for the love of…" She moved to stop the recording, and her lips parted in shock when her commentarius flew off of the bed and zoomed into Kid's hand. Immediately, she jumped off of her bed and rushed to take it back. " _Brutus assine,_ " she hissed, "Do you have any idea how fragile a commentarius disk is?"

"Nope," he replied nonchalantly. He eyed the device and peered at the parts of the working machinery that he could see inside the box. There was a small transparent window that displayed the disk inside the recorder as it spun in a slow circle; there were several wires woven intricately behind the disk, as well as a bunch of interlocking gears that turned as the disk spun. "Huh, never seen anything like this…" He raised an eyebrow and held up the commentarius for a closer look at its inner workings. "Does Romoran shit always have a mix of circuits _and_ gears? And there's no hatch or anything for replacing the power source on it, so it can't be somethin' like a battery..."

Minerva's frown faded as she thought about the question; Eustass was actually interested in how her technology worked? Even if he had been acting like an ass, she was always a bit happier when someone she knew was genuinely curious about something. "Romoran technology is solar-powered, for the most part," she replied, slightly impressed at how Eustass had actually used _logic_ of all things to come to a conclusion about something. "The gears are part of the system that converts the recorded sound and physically etches it into the disk using a series of incredibly small needles, while the circuitry is likely part of what makes up the button-commands inside the machine."

Kid peered at the spinning disk inside of the commentarius. "How long does one of these things record for?"

"The discus? Around twenty hours," Minerva said. "There are different disks with longer recording times, but they're much more expensive. I decided to be frugal and buy the twenty-hour disks in bulk, and then if-or-when I run out of space, I could solely document my travels with my written journals." As she talked about the limits of her discs, her eyes widened in realization; her commentarius was still recording--she was wasting precious minutes right now! 

She leapt off of her bed and lunged for the recorder, only for Kid to jerk his hand back once again. "Eustass," she huffed. "I don't want to waste what limited disk space I have. If you're not going to hand it over to me, just stop the recording--"

Kid cocked his head to the side with that infuriating smirk of his. "Say _please_."

Minerva scowled at him; when did _he_ care about pleasantries and politeness? "Please," she replied with a sigh. To her surprise, when she reached for it again, Kid refused to give it to her.

"I didn't say I'd actually hand it over if you said please," he teased.

Minerva glared at him. "You are such a _child_ ," she snapped, feeling a slight tension in her jaw and temples as she clenched them. What was the point of this? Just to annoy her? He was certainly succeeding, and that made her even more annoyed. "What will get you to see reason and just give me my commentarius?"

Kid shrugged and looked straight at her, his gaze much more serious than the grin on his face. "You're a pirate, right? If ya see something you want, then _take it._ " He waved the commentarius in his hand and watched her reaction, hoping she'd get what he was trying to tell her. "You're a pirate on **my** crew. And pirates don't ask for things, we take 'em. And if someone takes **our** shit, we kick their ass."

Minerva narrowed her eyebrows. "Are you seriously saying that I need to _fight_ you? That's ridiculous, there's no need to--"

"Then I guess you're not getting this back," Kid said nonchalantly, turning around to head out of the room. "Maybe I can find something fun to do with it, after I get rid of the shit that's already on this disc."

Minerva's eyes widened, and her hands balled into fists. "Don't you **dare** ," she threatened, her voice low. She saw Kid keep walking, unbothered by her change in tone. She bit the inside of her cheek and felt her fingernails dig into her palms. _Fine,_ she thought to herself. _If I really can't convince him with reason, I'll have to indulge him and use_ **_force._ **

She quickly created an Axon Whip and cracked it forward, sending a small projectile of electricity flying to his metal prosthetic. When he flinched at the electrical current running through him, Minerva used her other hand to create another Whip, and used it to grab the commentarius from Eustass's other hand and retrieve it for herself. Once she caught it, she quickly stopped the recording and turned around to set it back onto her desk. When her back was turned, Eustass sent his metal prosthetic flying and grabbed her by the waist, causing her to let out a small surprised gasp. He pulled her out onto the deck, and she landed on the wooden floor with a thud.

"Hasn't Killer taught you not to turn your back on a fight until it's finished?" he snapped. He reattached his metal arm with a small click, and looked down at her scornfully.

Minerva glared up at him and gingerly held a hand to where his metal arm had latched onto her waist; she was _definitely_ going to have a bruise in the morning. "It _was_ finished," she snapped back. "I retrieved what was mine, and I indulged your brutish lust for needless violence. Were you expecting me to kill you? To beat you into unconsciousness?"

"It's what I'd do if someone stole my shit," he insisted. "I'm not expecting you to be much in a fight at this point, but you need to cut this 'give peace a chance', 'let's talk about this' shit out." He crossed his arms. "You think the Marines are gonna take that? You think another crew is gonna have a debate with you? No. They're gonna laugh in your face, shoot you in the head, and steal everything you've got on you. If I'm gonna haul your ass all the way to the New World in one piece, you need to stop thinking like an intellectual, know-it-all pussy and more like a pirate."

Minerva didn't need his insult translated to understand what he'd called her. For the first time in her life, her sense of logic and reason was overtaken by a savage, primal urge to beat someone until her id was satisfied. Her face was hot and there was a suffocating weight in her chest as she tried to keep her breathing steady. Her heartbeat pounded louder and louder in her head, and she slowly put a hand against her temple. 

Kid thought she was trying to calm herself and rolled his eyes. Before he could mock her again, he closed his mouth when he saw her irises glow pink, and she glared at him like she was ready to tear his throat out with her teeth. _About damn time,_ he thought to himself. He grinned and took off his coat before tossing it aside, eager to finally enjoy a good fight with his new crew mate. _Let's see what you've_ **_really_ ** _got, kid..._

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kid: Aren't you tired of being nice, Minerva  
> Don't you wanna just go apeshit


	23. Chapter 23

Minerva's eyes glowed as she pushed the limits of her reflexive capabilities and her senses; just like during her sparring sessions with Killer, the world became clearer and sharper as she became hyper-aware of everything around her.  _ Eustass is in a defensive posture,  _ she observed, noticing how his body weight was shifted.  _ He's waiting for me to attack in order to gauge just how much power I have after Rewiring...No, wait.  _ She noticed the way he was holding up his prosthetic arm, his palm slightly open the way it was when he was about to use his Devil Fruit.  _ He's going to attack-- _

Something whistled behind her and she swiftly ducked to avoid whatever Eustass had sent flying. Now he was holding a chain in his hand, and it clattered between his fingers.  _ Now we both have long-range weapons,  _ Minerva realized, summoning another Axon Whip. She snapped it a few times at Kid, sending some more electrical projectiles towards him. He managed to dodge all but one of them, and he gritted his teeth as another wave of electricity coursed through his body. 

Kid sent the chain flying at her, and she tried to avoid it; instead of trying to hit her with it, the chain wrapped around her waist and she winced. He grinned at her mockingly and slowly pulled the chain closer to him while making it squeeze tighter around her. "Feel free to tap out once you start to black out," he teased. "I might knock ya out, but I don't wanna kill ya."

Minerva glared at him, biting her tongue so she wouldn't cry out in pain as she struggled against the chain wrapped around her. She shut her eyes and threw up a Myelin Shield in the limited space between her body and the chain, and concentrated on expanding it further and further out as fast as possible; the sudden force of the hard shield straining against the coiled metal caused some of the links to snap, and one of the broken links struck Eustass's face. She heard him curse under his breath and saw a noticeable gash on his left cheek. When she felt an urge to relish in satisfaction after finally landing a hit, she quickly ignored it and immediately moved the shield to her front.  _ A single cut won't make him yield. _

Minerva landed back onto the ground and saw that in the instant she'd fallen, Eustass had destroyed the chain and made it into a collection of broken and jagged links. He sent the collection of shrapnel flying at her, but she easily deflected it with her shield.  _ I need to close the distance between us,  _ Minerva thought. She rotated the shield and made it into a dome to protect herself from all sides as the broken chain links pelted her.  _ If I'm going to win this fight, I need to be able to touch him and use my Rewire!  _ The sound of hard metal plinking against her shield almost sounded like rain or hail--they weren't doing much to damage it at the moment, but Minerva knew that Eustass could make those projectiles move fast enough to shoot through her shield like a bullet; she needed to come up with a plan,  _ fast _ .

To her surprise, Eustass actually started to walk towards her once he'd grown tired of launching shrapnel at her. "This is gonna be a boring fight if you're just gonna hole yourself up in that fuckin' dome," he said with a scowl. He was standing just a foot away from her shield, and summoned the stray pieces of shrapnel to form a gigantic projectile of jagged metal. "If you're not gonna come out on your own, I'll  _ make _ you come out!"

Minerva made another Axon Whip and swallowed nervously as Eustass raised the projectile and moved his arm back to launch it.  _ With how he has to move his arm back and then forward to "throw" the projectile, he'll be a bit off-balance the instant he throws it.  _ She eyed the Myelin Shield around her and made it as rigid as possible, and then bent her knees slightly to get ready to leap out of the way of Eustass's weapon.  _ I'll need to be quick and precise if I don't want to get hit with that shrapnel--or the stray pieces of my shield that go flying when… _

Eustass launched the projectile, throwing his whole body into the attack as he took a step forward to balance himself. The moment the metal collided with the shield, Minerva leapt forward as she heard the horrendous sound of her shield shattering and metal clashing against it. She flung her Axon Whip and wrapped it around Kid's waist, and before he could react she yanked it forward, using the momentum to collide with him and tackle him to the ground. She winced when the two of them landed. Even if he had cushioned most of the impact, his body was much sharper than the average person thanks to his clothing and accessories; something near his belt buckle was especially uncomfortable as it pressed up against her, digging into her skin.  _ He's pinned, but that doesn't mean the fight is over,  _ Minerva thought, slamming her palm forward to grab Kid's head and shove it down against the deck--and to use her Rewire ability.  _ I have to  _ **_finish_ ** _ this!  _

Kid snarled and grabbed her wrist with one hand, and hooked her waist with the other one as he got ready to slam her against the deck of the ship and turn the tables on her. He smirked at the way she tensed her body and gasped sharply when he'd wrapped his metal arm around her But...something was  _ off.  _ That normal rush of energy when he fought was fading and...why was he so tired? His body felt more and more heavy and his arms soon fell limply at his sides. His eyelids drooped and within a few seconds, he was unconscious.

Minerva's pink irises faded back to their usual grey, and she looked down at Kid to admire her handiwork.  _ I've given him enough melatonin to keep him asleep for about...hmm, two hours or so.  _ She saw a slightly pink hand-shaped mark on his head from where she'd struck him and smirked slightly. A bit of drool had already started to run down one side of his cheeks, and he had even started to snore quietly. 

She winced and lifted the bottom of her shirt to check for any signs of bruises that had already started to form. To her chagrin and discomfort, there were a few small purple dots and blotches from where he'd grabbed her waist. "Oh,  _ honestly _ ," she muttered to herself. She was glad that he hadn't held back his strength during their little "sparring match", but did he really have to give her so many marks? She lifted her shirt higher to check for more bruises and cuts on her chest, and as she was inspecting herself, Heat, Killer, and Wire were walking out together.

"I'm telling ya, I heard them fighting," Heat insisted, facing Wire. "I wanna see what she can do now before Kid gets too-- _ WOAH. _ "

The three of them looked across the deck of now-softened myelin and bits of metal, and then to Minerva sitting on top of Kid with her shirt raised up while their captain was clearly unconscious. Wire blinked a few times and then awkwardly cleared his throat to let Minerva know that she (and Kid) were no longer alone. "Are we...interrupting?"

Minerva pulled her shirt back down and looked back at her fellow crewmates. "Oh, there you all are," she remarked. "No, you're not interrupting anything. Though if Kid had anything he was planning on doing for the next two hours, the four of us may have to take over his duties." She carefully climbed off of Kid and adjusted her clothes a bit before nonchalantly heading towards the ship's medbay. "But before I get to that, I'm going to clear away the debris out here and then make a few heating pads for myself." She winced and put one hand to her stomach. "Ugh, I can already tell that I'm going to have trouble getting out of bed tomorrow morning thanks to these bruises," she muttered to herself. She closed the door to the medbay behind her, leaving her three crew mates as she went to take care of her recent injuries.

Heat's cheeks turned a bit pink and he refused to make eye contact with Minerva the entire time she walked to her room, instead focusing on his unconscious captain. He could've sworn he'd heard them  _ fighting  _ out here; he wouldn't have rushed to go get the others so they could watch if he'd known they were...fuuuck, this was awkward. When he noticed the slight tent in Kid's pants as he lay face-up on the deck, he sighed, threw his hands up and headed towards the ship's galley.  _ I should've known he wouldn't last more than a few months with a chick like her on board.  _ "Okay, I'm getting a drink," he declared. "Anyone else want in?" 

Wire nodded and silently followed behind Heat, only stopping to unclasp his cape and drape it over Kid as a makeshift blanket--and to cover up his captain's...ahem, "raised flag". Kid mumbled something incoherently in his sleep and turned on his side, and Killer smirked behind his mask as he headed into the kitchen with Heat and Wire. He had an idea of what had  _ actually  _ happened, unlike Heat and Wire, and he was impressed by how much Minerva had improved her fighting skills thanks to his training. Pinning Eustass Kid and knocking him unconscious was no easy feat, even with Minerva's Devil Fruit. Still, even if he knew that Heat and Wire were making the wrong assumption about what had gone down, he  _ definitely _ wasn't going to say anything.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not very experienced with writing action/fight scenes, which is why this chapter is so short 😅 Hopefully the action is nice and quick, and a satisfying little bout. For her first real fight, I think Minerva did pretty well!


	24. Chapter 24

Minerva emerged from the medbay with a a warm rag wrapped around her as a makeshift heating pad. She glanced at Kid, still lying unconscious on the ship's deck; she wasn't sure who had given him a blanket, but she simply assumed one of her crewmates had done it to make Kid more comfortable while sprawled out on the ship. Her lips pursed a bit as she stared down at Kid.  _ I should probably check his body for bruises and cuts,  _ she thought to herself.  _ He may be an assine, but I  _ **_am_ ** _ the crew's doctor.  _

With a sigh, she headed back into the medbay to grab a bottle of antiseptic and some small bandages, her brows furrowed a bit as she thought to herself. _ I wonder...what are the ethical implications of tending a patient's wounds when you're the one who injured them?  _ She smirked and moved the blanket to the side, and did her best to examine Kid's body; it reminded her of the veterinarian in Austellus when she would have to sedate and check up on some of the local wildcats--docile and almost sweet while they slept, but impossible to move without the risk of waking them up. When Minerva put her hand on Kid's shoulder to move his coat aside, he sleepily mumbled something and Minerva immediately froze. Instead of waking up, he simply shifted a bit on his back and continued to snore. Minerva relaxed her shoulders and continued to try her best to examine what she could see of his body.  _ I think I'd prefer to examine a sedated wildcat,  _ she thought dryly. 

She noticed a few small cuts on his forearm, as well as a larger one on his midsection and one scratch on his face. Minerva reached for the antiseptic and gently dabbed at the wound on his cheek first, and Kid let out a small grunt as he winced slightly in his sleep. When she moved her hands lower to tend to his arm and his stomach, his quiet grunts had turned into more comfortable-sounding murmurs. She crossed her arms and looked at his belt, wondering if she should try to look for other injuries under his clothes despite the risk of waking Eustass up.  _ I'd rather not wake him up while I'm undressing him,  _ she thought.  _ I could try to explain what I was actually doing, but... _ She looked derisively at Kid's sleeping face; a bit of drool had started to trickle out of one side of his slightly opened mouth, and he was still snoring.  _ I'm fairly certain that he'd imagine the crudest possible reason for why I was taking off his trousers.  _

Still, it couldn't hurt to be thorough. Instead of reaching down to remove his belt, Minerva decided to check his head and other exposed parts of his body for any bumps or signs of bruises. She rested her hand on his forehead and gently ran her fingers through his scalp, feeling for any signs of injury and watching his reaction for any feelings of pain on his face as she touched him. The only response she got from Kid was a small sigh before he turned his head to lean into her touch. Minerva raised an eyebrow, surprised but also amused at seeing Kid of all people being affectionate in any way. 

She decided to use her other hand to feel for any injuries, just so Kid could continue to rest his cheek in her palm--just so he wouldn't wake up from having his head moved around from its current position, of course. As her fingers brushed over a bit of exposed skin on his collarbone, Kid shifted his hips upward and there was a slight bit of color to his cheeks as he muttered something akin to "Nnn...Mi-ngh…" 

Minerva noticed a significant tent forming in his trousers, and her eyes immediately widened. She quickly moved her hand off of his neck, but managed to catch herself before she jerked her other hand away and let his head hit the ground; the last thing she wanted was for him to wake up  _ now,  _ of all times. She carefully moved her hand out from under his cheek as she guided his head to the wood of the deck, gathered her supplies as quietly as possible, and made her way back to the medbay to enjoy some much-needed time to herself. Her gaze was fixed straight ahead the entire time, refusing to risk another glance at Eustass's...body. 

Once she'd set her supplies back into their proper place, she sank into her desk chair and noticed her reflection in one of the nearby medical tools; her cheeks were surprisingly pink, similar to Kid's when she'd touched him. Come to think of it, her face did feel warm. And her heart rate was just a bit faster than usual, especially as she thought about Kid's reaction to her touching him.  _ Why do I feel so flustered?  _ She huffed and crossed her arms.  _ Erotic dreams are perfectly normal, and his body was just responding to stimuli. There's nothing more to it.  _

She continued to try and justify how Kid had reacted as a typical reaction to having someone touch you in sensitive areas during a sexual dream, but her thoughts kept drifting to what he had said in his sleep when she'd touched his neck and chest--"Mi-ngh…" It was just some gibberish muttered by someone in their sleep, nothing more.  _ People say all sorts of incomprehensible things in their sleep,  _ Minerva thought.  _ He could have been dreaming about...about mint? Oh, or mincemeat; perhaps he was dreaming about turning an enemy into "mincemeat". He seems like he would closely associate violence with sexual gratification and arousal, so that could explain his reaction…  _ She tried to think of as many words as possible beginning with "min-", just to find a way to distract herself from the awkward situation she'd been in earlier.  _ "Mineral", "Minimalist"--no, I doubt Eustass would dream about something involving that…"Minister", "minnow", "ministration"-- _

"Minerva?" A knock came from her door, and Minerva jumped up from her chair. "Ah! Er, yes?" She quickly put her hand up to her head, hoping that if she used her Rewire to reduce her temperature, it wouldn't be obvious that she had been blushing. She recognized the voice of her crewmate immediately. "Do you need something, Heat?"

The door opened and Heat poked his head into the medbay. "Um, I was just wondering if you could give me a hand moving something in the workshop below deck," he replied. He was looking down to avoid making eye contact with her, and if it weren't for the black paint on his face, Minerva could've sworn that he was blushing. "Normally I'd get Kid to move it, but he's...you know. Plus, the others are busy getting dinner ready. So…" He trailed off awkwardly, and Minerva wondered what was causing his odd behavior. 

"Of course," she replied, eager to find something else to keep her mind off of Kid in any way possible. Truth be told, she hadn't had a chance to see the workshop on the Victoria Punk aside from quick glances when she'd had to come down for some form of errand or another. For someone wanting to learn about the technology outside of Romora, it could be a potential treasure trove of knowledge!

The two of them made their way below the deck, refusing to look at Kid who was still lying on the floor as he slept when they entered the nearby hallway to go downstairs. Shortly after they'd left, Kid shifted onto his side and his metal arm draped over an imaginary figure next to him, with his steel fingers lightly scratching the wood of the floorboards as he groped the empty air. "Nngh...Minnie...Zzzz….

  
  



	25. Chapter 25

Eustass didn't dream that often, but when he did, there was a fifty-fifty chance of it being one of his recurring childhood nightmares or a pleasant dream--well, pleasant by Kid's standards. This time, he was enjoying a dream he'd experienced many times since he set sail with the goal of becoming the King of the Pirates: He's just found the One Piece, his crew is hauling a ton of weapons and other loot aboard the Victoria Punk, and the sea is littered with the bloodied and tattered ruins of Marine uniforms. The burning hulls of other pirate ships are lighting up the horizon, and the smell of smoke and gunpowder and battle fills the air. Kid leans back in his chair and grins; this really was paradise.  
Normally, the dream would have gone along its usual route: he'd have fun by launching the metal pieces of the nearby ships into the water, making a game of plunging any survivors he sees into the depths with the debris. Then he and the rest of the crew would celebrate with drinks and enjoy the carnage they'd wrought together. The small, lingering bit of consciousness in the back of his mind that knew he was dreaming was surprised when he felt a hand rest against the small of his back. This wasn't how the dream went…  
When he turned around, he saw Minerva looking up at him with a small smile on her face. "That was...an impressive fight," she remarked. Her voice seemed slightly off--a little lower, a little more sultry. "My journal entries for today are probably going to be an hour long, just to make sure I remember every detail I can." Her hand moved up and down Kid's chest, and she brushed her fingers over a spot on his collarbone. Kid felt a rush of blood from his face run lower down his body at the feeling of her soft fingertips on his scarred skin. "Before that, though, I should take care of you."  
Before Kid could smirk and ask if she was talking about tending to his injuries or something else, the scene shifted from the deck of his ship to his bedroom. He was standing in front of the foot of his bed, and Minerva was still close to him as she let her hand drift a bit lower on his midsection before she looked up at Kid with a mischievous smile. She stood on the tip of her toes to reach for Kid's coat and slip it off of his arms; once more of his skin was exposed, she ran one hand up and down his nonmetal arm while she set his coat aside with her other hand.   
"You really are a fascinating specimen," she remarked, glancing at his metal arm and then letting her eyes drift lower down his body. Her fingers followed her gaze until they stopped at his stomach. "I could fill every page of one of my journals with sketches of you, accounts of every violent and brutal display of power...and I doubt it would even begin to cover it." She let out a small dreamy sigh and looked up adoringly at Kid. It was strange to see and hear her like this; she sounded so much warmer than she usually did, showering him with praise and looking up at him like he was the only man in the world. It was a nice change of pace from her usual snippy, braniac self. And Kid definitely liked how handsy she was all of a sudden.  
Kid gave her a cocky smile. "I thought those journals were for your 'research' to bring back home or whatever," he replied. "What'll you teach all those losers about me?"  
Minerva smirked and put her hands behind her head to untie her headscarf, letting her hair fall around her shoulders. "What a real man is," she replied, her voice considerably more husky. She dropped the cloth down onto Kid's coat near the bed, and then slowly removed her shirt before tossing it aside. Before Kid could grab a handful of her now-exposed skin, she pressed herself against him and gently pushed him down until he was lying flat on the mattress.   
The rest of the dream faded and swirled in Kid's mind as Minerva helped celebrate his victory as the new King of the Pirates. It was hazy, an abstract series of sensations, sounds, moans, and tastes that all melded into a wonderful ending to this new part of an old dream of his. He heard her panting on top of him, the heat of her lips against his neck, and then…  
Kid's eyes opened to another scene entirely--he wasn't in his room, Minnie wasn't lying on top of him, and instead of the smoky, bloodied ruins of his enemies on the horizon...there was just the open ocean and a few stray clouds in the evening sky. There was a hand on him, but it wasn't Minerva's. He looked up groggily and scowled at his First Mate before covering his eyes with his forearm; fuck, how was it so bright when the sun was starting to set?   
"The hell'd you wake me up for?" he snapped, swatting Killer's hand away. "I've only been out for...iunno, fuck, lemme sleep, asshole." He started to turn over, but Killer stopped him.  
"You've been laid out on the deck for three hours," he replied. "It's almost time to eat, and I knew you'd be pissed if you woke up on your own and found out you'd missed dinner--and the start of Poker Night."  
Kid rubbed his face sleepily and muttered to himself. "You're right," he replied begrudgingly. He accepted Killer's help standing up, and then gave him a half-smile and a small punch to the shoulder. "You're still a dick, though."  
Killer punched him back, and the two of them chuckled as they headed to the galley to get their food.   
Killer glanced back at the spot where Kid had been sprawled out for most of the afternoon, occasionally groping the air with his hand and murmuring to himself while he drooled a bit in his sleep. When Killer had finally walked up to wake him up, he distinctly heard Kid mutter to himself while he shifted his weight and casually moved his hips up and down a bit: "Zzz… Nngh, Minnie...fuck, Minnie...zzz…" Killer had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing out loud at just how desperate Kid had sounded as he sighed "Minnie's" name; he hadn't heard his captain act like this in years, back when they were both hormonal teens that had these kinds of dreams at the drop of a hat. Even then, Kid never said any of his lust-object-of-the-week's names quite like this.   
He eyed Kid, noticing the slight clench of his captain's fists as he opened the door to his quarters. "Not going to the kitchen?"  
Kid's hand lingered on the doorknob for a moment, wondering (hoping?) in the back of his mind if he'd open the door and see his coat and a few other articles of clothing scattered near the bed. He pushed the thought out of his mind and headed inside. "Grabbing some other clothes to change into," he replied gruffly, not looking back to see Killer tilt his head a bit. "It's fuckin' hot, and I've been under that blanket for a long-ass time." He wiped a thin layer of sweat from his forehead and scowled when he only saw a few stray articles of clothing on the floorboards, but not his coat--or Minerva's scarf and shirt. He rummaged through his closet, mentally cursing himself for actually taking a dream this seriously. Of course she and him didn't screw, it was just a dream. A really...nice dream. A hot dream. He yanked his boots off and grabbed a pair of shorts to replace his long black pants with; it was getting annoyingly warm and humid in here.  
Killer shook his head and shut the door before heading to the galley. He put his hands in his pockets and smirked behind his mask. "His poker face was already godawful, but now…" He shook his head and opened the door to the galley. "This is going to be a hell of a night."


	26. Chapter 26

Kid followed Killer into the galley, where Heat, Minerva, and Wire were all sitting at the round dining table and chatting with each other. Minerva was peering at a few playing cards that Wire had placed in front of her, and Heat was explaining something to her. "So," Minerva said, eyeing the cards, "In this game, these three 'sevens' and these two 'Jacks' would be a 'full house', right?"

"Yup," Heat replied, setting his cards down for her to see: an ascending set of Heart cards, from 5 to 7. "And that's a really good hand! Buuuut," he said smugly, "I've got a flush, and that beats a full house."

Minerva nodded wisely and peered down at her cards. "I think I understand," she said confidently, giving Heat a small smile. "Thank you for teaching me how to play this game! Oh, I have one more question, though." She leaned forward in her chair a bit and cocked her head slightly. "Why is it called 'poker'?"

"I…" Heat frowned and looked down at the deck of cards. "Don't know." He shrugged and gathered the spread-out cards to hand to Wire, who was expertly shuffling the rest of the deck. "Maybe because you're trying to tell who's bad at hiding how good of a hand they have? You know, 'poking holes' and calling people's bluff and all that."

Minerva reached for her opened journal near her cup and took the stylus out from its place tucked between her ear and her hair before writing down her thoughts. "Maybe," she mused. She scribbled down her question (and Heat's guess) next to her sketches of the "face" cards in the deck, as well as a list of the rules on how to play. She noticed Killer and Kid by the door, and her grip on her stylus tightened a bit; now that Eustass was awake, was he angry at her for how she'd ended their fight? "Ah, you're awake," she remarked, her voice a bit tense. "How do you feel?"

Kid noticed the tension in her voice and posture, and he raised an eyebrow. "...hungry," he replied bluntly, heading into the kitchen area to grab a plate to fill to the brim with the food the rest of the crew had prepared. 

Minerva tried her best to seem aloof, as if she was thinking about anything but the fact that the two of them had fought each other earlier in the day--and that she hadn't seen or heard anything strange while he was passed out and dreaming. "There's plenty of food left," she replied coolly. "I was worried about how undercooked some of the steaks were, but Killer insisted that you liked yours very rare." She closed her journal and placed it in her lap as Kid set his full plate onto the table with a clatter and plopped down across from her. "But I set up some supplies in the medbay in case you happen to develop salmonella or another form of food poisoning from it," she said with a shrug and a wave of her hand.

Kid stabbed one of his steaks with his knife and took a large bite from it. "Ya mean 'salmon'-ella?" He replied, his mouth full of meat. "How'm I gonna get some fuckin' fish disease from eating beef?" He took another carnivorous bite of his steak and then gulped down some of his beer. 

"Oh, it's not named after the species of fish," Minerva explained, her eyes shining a bit like they usually did when she had the chance to give new knowledge to someone. "The bacteria that carries the disease is named after the scientist who discovered it in Romora--a researcher and priest of Apollo named Salmonus." She pointed at Kid's steak and then to her stomach. "They invade the gastrointestinal tract after a person eats contaminated--or in some cases, undercooked--food. The acids in the human stomach tend to kill some of the bacteria, but those dead salmonella can still release endotoxins that infect the healthy cells around them." 

Kid looked down at his stomach as he finished swallowing his steak. Whatever the hell "bacteria" were, they sounded like a hassle. He didn't know a lot about medicine, but he knew enough to know that anything called an "endotoxin" was also pretty likely to make him feel like shit. "Can it kill ya?"

Minerva cocked her head slightly from side-to-side. "Yes, but it likely wouldn't kill  _ you  _ specifically," she replied. "It's more deadly to infants, children, people with compromised immune systems...You're more likely to wind up with food poisoning for a few days than anything life-threatening."

Kid nodded, and then narrowed his eyes as he remembered something else she had said. "Wait, people have acid in 'em?"

"In their gastrointestinal system, yes," Minerva replied. She hadn't heard Kid sound so intrigued by any of the facts she had told him before, and she smiled a bit; maybe he was starting to slowly develop an interest in medicine and science after all. "It helps digest and break down food."

Kid thought to himself and took another swig of beer. "So...can you take it  _ out  _ of you? To make into a weapon?" He grinned. "If I could take some of that shit and add to some grenades or something, that'd be fuckin'  _ awesome. _ "

Minerva blinked silently. "I…" Of  _ course,  _ he only appreciated knowledge when he could use it in a battle. Still, it was an interesting concept; she furrowed her brows and actually tried to consider it as a possibility. "Hmm. It would probably kill you, or at the very least severely weaken you and your ability to digest food," she reasoned. "I also don't know of a way to  _ only  _ extract those juices and acids without accidentally removing important tissues in your stomach. You'd also likely die from infection, even if you sterilized whatever you were using to gather the acid." 

Kid frowned and leaned back in his chair, disappointed that he couldn't find a way to weaponize this acid he'd just discovered was inside of him. He looked back up at Minerva and eyed her for any signs of injury from their fight earlier. "You got any bruises or anything?"

Minerva's eyes widened a bit at his first mention of what had happened. She shifted uncomfortably and lifted the bottom of her shirt slightly to show one of the dark purple marks he'd left on her stomach. "The only visible marks are the bruises from your arm and the metal chains you used to restrain me," she replied. She winced as she shifted in her seat again, dropping her shirt's hem to cover herself again. "Though that's just what's visible right now; I wouldn't be surprised if some other sore areas develop bruises by tomorrow." 

Kid brushed the cut on his cheek where she had struck him with a smirk on his face. "I'm a little proud of ya, kid," he remarked. "I wasn't expecting you to leave any marks on me, much less put me on my ass...but you turned out to be tougher than I had thought." His eyes narrowed a bit. "Next time we go at it, I won't hold back now that I know you're ready."

Minerva was about to ask if he was  _ really  _ holding back during their fight or if he was simply trying to shield his pride, but stopped just as she opened her mouth. She had a feeling that Eustass hadn't been trying to seriously kill her back then, and in his mind that  _ was  _ probably "holding back"; fighting without any effort to kill your opponent was certainly an odd form of courtesy, but Eustass Kid was an odd man to say the least. And while she thought he was still a brute and a jackass at times, she couldn't help but pick up on a hint of respect in his voice when he promised not to hold back the next time they fought. She gave Kid a wry smile and a short nod, excited for him to truly show her what it meant to fight in a life-or-death setting. This was new territory for her, and she was happy to have an experienced mentor that had  _ no _ problem teaching her the hard way. "I'm looking forward to that," she replied.

As Kid and Minerva exchanged words across the table, Heat and Wire watched the two of them with a look of silent discomfort. They both knew that Kid didn't have any qualms with talking about sex publicly, but  _ Minerva?  _ Damn, maybe she had a secret side to her they hadn't gotten a glimpse of until they'd come across her and Kid on the deck after their first time "going at it", as Kid had put it. And she'd managed to put him…"on his ass?" Just from their  _ first time _ !? The two of them exchanged a look and took a swig of beer from their cups in unison. They'd never guessed that Minerva of all people would be able to put Kid over her knee like that, but appearances could be deceiving. As they watched her and Kid exchange a smirk across the table, they wondered just how dangerous Minerva could be; after all, anyone who could take Eustass down a peg--literally or otherwise--was definitely _not_ someone to be trifled with.


	27. Chapter 27

After observing the rest of the crew playing, Minerva managed to win a few hands of poker in a row. As she smiled and handed her cards for Wire to shuffle them into the deck, she looked over at Kid. "You're surprisingly good at masking your reactions, Eustass," she remarked. "It took me a while to figure out when you actually had a highly valued hand, instead of just bluffing!"

Kid, who at this point was on his third large mug of beer, grinned and leaned back. "Oh yeah? What gave me away, brainiac?"

Minerva rolled her eyes at his nickname, but was still smiling a bit. A half-empty glass of beer was next to her, and Killer managed to push it back onto the table before Minerva's elbow knocked it over. "You pretended to make your eye twitch as if you were under stress," she replied. "But if that were the underlying cause of why it was twitching, I would have seen you do it at some point before tonight." She smirked. "I've seen you react to stress  _ many  _ times before, but you've never had that reaction."

Kid shrugged and finished what was left of his beer before wiping a bit of foam off of his top lip. "Still, I got plenty of wins before ya caught on," he insisted. "I was just waiting to see if you were still so sharp after getting some booze in ya. Turns out you are."

Minerva's cheeks felt warm from the alcohol, and she decided to have a few more sips of her cold beer; the best way to stave off the effects of alcohol wasn't to drink  _ more  _ of it, but right now, she only cared about getting something cold to try and wash away the heat radiating from her face. "Aha," she crowed, "So you  _ can  _ think strategically! Plying me with beer to lower my guard and gauge how well I can observe things while drunk is  _ very  _ clever." She quietly clapped her hands together and giggled. " _ Merc lucet _ …"

The rest of the pirates at the table stared at her silently. "Uh, is this a Romoran saying?" Heat asked. 

Minerva nodded and moved her seat closer to the table so she could lean against it with her elbows. "A compliment," she said. "It means 'Mercury shines', but as a colloquial phrase, it's usually shortened to 'Merc' instead of 'Mercury'."

Killer crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. "That's not the god of war, right? The one you said looks like Kid?"

Minerva shook her head. "That's Mars," she replied. "Mercury is the god of messages and messengers, trade, commerce, and is the patron of thieves and tricksters. There are lots of myths about him pulling all sorts of pranks and cleverly defeating his enemies." 

Wire raised an eyebrow. "With booze?" 

Minerva furrowed her brows as she concentrated on what stories she remembered of Mercury; she hadn't read any stories involving him in a few years, and the beer wasn't making her memory any clearer. "Not that I can remember," she said slowly, "But he  _ did  _ once kill Juno's guard Argus, the man with a million eyes, without even raising a blade to him."

Kid and the others leaned forward a bit, curious to hear this story; for someone to fight an opponent like that and kill them without breaking a sweat, this had to be pretty badass. 

Minerva's fingers played with the glass of her mug as she continued. "Well, Argus was made to be as strong as Juno's jealousy towards her husband's many lovers," she explained. "And considering how many myths there are of Jupiter siring children and having all sorts of consorts, you can imagine how strong that made Argus. Mercury knew that even as a god, he couldn't win in a typical fight; besides, Argus would be able to see any attack that Mercury would try to initiate. So, he decided to find a way to close all of Argus's eyes before he struck."

Heat nodded. "He covered him in a blanket or something," he said confidently.

Minerva blinked and then shook her head. 'Er, no," she replied.

"He poured something like acid or sand on him? That shit'll mess up your eyes for sure, no matter how many you've got," Kid guessed.

Minerva shook her head. " _ No _ ," she tittered. "How would he be able to do that undetected? Argus had thousands of eyes all over him!" 

Killer tilted his head, thinking about how you could make someone close their eyes before attacking them and lowering their guard in general. While the others were making more (and increasingly ridiculous) guesses, Minerva was doubling over with laughter. 

"He got a bunch of swords and poked all his eyes at once!"

"He crawled underground and then popped up underneath Argus, and then punched him in the nuts! Or...the eyes where his nuts were. Fuck, that's weird…"

"Lots of blindfolds."

Minerva snorted and covered her face with her hands. "Nooooo," she moaned. "Not even close, none of them are close to what he did…"

Suddenly, Killer snapped his fingers and pointed at Minerva. "He made him fall asleep somehow," he said, "And  _ then  _ killed him when all of his eyes were closed."

"Yes!" Minerva cheered and took another drink, and Kid snorted.

"What," he said derisively, joining her in another gulp of his own beer. "He fuckin' bore him to death or something?"

Minerva nodded. "Exactly! Mercury told Argus a story so long and boring, that eventually all of Argus's eyes closed and he fell asleep. And then now that his guard was down, Mercury killed him with one swing of his sword and stole the cow that he was guarding for Juno."

"He did all that for a  _ cow _ ?" Kid rolled his eyes. "The fuck, who comes up with a super elaborate plan to kill someone just for a cow!?" The rest of the crew nodded in agreement. 

"Maybe it's a special cow," Heat posited. "I mean, I'd probably kill someone for a cow if it made booze in its udders instead of milk."

Wire nodded wisely. "Same," he replied.

Minerva crossed her legs. "No, it did  _ not _ produce booze in its udders," she said with a grin on her face and a rosiness to her cheeks. "The cow was actually a beautiful maiden that Jupiter  _ transformed _ into a cow, to prevent his wife Juno from realizing he was having another affair. But Juno saw through it and took the cow for herself."

Kid blinked once, then twice, and finished the rest of his beer. "Romoran stories are fuckin' weird," he declared. He furrowed his brows and then glanced at Minerva, who was pursing her lips slightly and glaring at Kid for dismissing her people's culture after hearing just one story. "Wait, you know any about Mars? The war guy? Those are probably cool."

"Hmm…" She rocked back and forth in her chair for a bit as she tried to rack her brain for any stories about Mars that Kid would find most "cool"; anything with plenty of violence and gore would probably satisfy him. "Well, there's a story that tells of how Mars created riptides," she said. "Of course, everyone knows that riptides are caused by a tidal wave pulling water through an inlet leading to a beach or marina--" 

Minerva cut herself off when she realized how off-track she was getting. "Anyway," she continued, "This is just a myth that describes riptides as the rage of a god. Neptune, who is the god of the sea, had several children. One of his sons, Halirrhothios--"

"Holy  _ shit, _ " Heat remarked, "What's with the long name?"

Minerva shrugged. "I suppose that some gods wanted their children's names to be more 'elevated' than the names of mortals," she replied. 

"Sounds like the noise you make when you're hungover and trying not to puke," Kid said. "Hurr-lirr-hoth-yosh…" He pretended to vomit in the space between him and Minerva, and she rolled her eyes.

"He was infatuated with Mars's daughter, Alcippe. She rejected him whenever he tried to seduce her, and one day while the two of them were on the beach, she rejected him once again and he murdered her in a fit of rage. When Mars discovered who had killed his daughter, he dragged Halirrhothios across the beaches of Romora and tried to drown him; but as Neptune's son, the ocean couldn't harm him." She was quiet for a moment, trying to build the suspense for Kid and the crew. "Mars's rage only grew stronger. And so he dragged his daughter's killer out to sea with all of his strength, tearing off one of Halirrhothios's arms without even realizing it." She raised her arms in the air. "Then, knowing that Neptune could see the two of them in the ocean, Mars ripped Halirrhothios's limbs off, one by one--" She pantomime this for dramatic effect--"before finally tearing his torso in half and returning back to the beach to mourn his daughter."

Kid whistled low. "Killing a dude like that in front of his own dad," he said with a grin. "That's some good fuckin' payback."

"So according to the myth," Heat said slowly, "Riptides are just Mars's way of killing people who piss him off?"

"Not exactly," Minerva replied. "Most versions of the myth say that they're echoes of Mars's grief and rage, left behind thousands of years later." She shrugged and stifled a small hiccup. "But in the end, the scientific explanation is still the  _ real  _ one."

Kid gave Minerva a wicked smirk. "So," he said smugly, resting his hands behind his head, "I'm like a god to ya, huh?"

"You  _ look  _ and  _ act  _ like one, yes," Minerva said. "But I know that you aren't actually him, I promise. Just like how even though I share Minerva's name and resemble how she's usually depicted, I'm not actually the goddess of wisdom."

"Are there any myths with Mars and Minerva in them together?" Killer asked. He wondered if there were any related to, say, Mars and Minerva hooking up whenever they weren't bickering with each other on the ship--or, er, wherever gods lived. 

Minerva tried to stifle a laugh. "There's one where she defeats him in a battle and then knocks him out with a large rock," she replied. "But, ah…" She cleared her throat and tried not to smile. "Considering recent events, that may not be the best legend to talk about right now." Wire and Heat both hide their own smirks behind their drinks and quickly eyed Kid, who was narrowing his eyes at Minerva. She thought of another myth involving the two deities and finished the rest of her drink. "Oh! There are a few myths and legends about his attempts to seduce her!"

The table fell silent, and Wire and Heat glanced at Kid once again and then at Minerva; it seemed these myths might have a bit of truth to them after all, based on the ones they'd just heard about Ares and Minerva. Kid seemed a bit off at her remark, but Minerva couldn't quite place the expression on his face; he was certainly surprised, but there was more to it than that as he looked at her. "How'd it go?" he asked, cocking his head to the side a bit and...Killer thought that he saw a smile on Kid's face for just a moment. "Did he, uh...Did he win her over and bone her, or what?" His tone was a bit low and leading, almost as if his question had more than one meaning. Killer smiled and rolled his eyes underneath his mask; if Kid's past drunken attempts at picking up women were any guide, this was going to be fun to watch. But this wasn't him trying to engage in a random barside hookups. And did Kid really think Minerva, Miss "blunter than a pipe to the head", would say that she was into him in such a roundabout way? He saw Kid subtly rock his hips before shifting in his seat, and sighed softly--with how his sense of judgment changed when he was tipsy...yeah, Kid definitely thought that was what she was saying. 

"Well," Minerva replied candidly, "Some mythologists insist that they did share feelings for each other. But they likely didn't act on them, since Minerva is...well, she's a  _ chaste  _ goddess." Kid stared blankly at her, and Minerva felt strangely flustered by his silence and his gaze. "She's a virgin."

Kid's eyebrows shot up and he stared goggle-eyed at Minerva. She was saying that...she'd never…He eyed her hips and chest as she fidgeted awkwardly in her chair; she had a body like  _ that _ and she'd never seen any action!? "...Oh," he finally said. He wasn't disappointed exactly, far from it considering that if he did ever hook up with her, he'd be her first. It was just unexpected to him. Hell, her giving him signals like this was unexpected. He felt a swell of pride and smugness in his chest; he couldn't really blame her for wanting him. His beer-fogged brain slowly started to connect the various times the two of them had argued and clashed, wondering if this whole time she was playing hard-to-get or just struggling to realize why he made her so hot-and-bothered. 

A slow grin spread across his face. "Maybe they didn't fuck," he said suggestively, "Not yet, I mean. Buuuut, they could...I dunno, try making out? Or some mouth and hand stuff?"

Heat and Wire exchanged a look; Kid could really get shameless when he had enough booze in him, but this was  _ shameless _ . Why even put up this charade after they heard the two of them going at it on the deck earlier? Normally Kid would brag to them after a successful night with a babe, yet he hadn't given off that vibe at all with Minerva. Then again...he'd passed out right after their bout a few hours ago; he was probably going to share all of the details once it was just the four of them at the table. Heat shook his head and smirked underneath his face paint; he couldn't wait to hear how  _ this  _ went down.

Minerva frowned, confused by Kid's reply. " 'Hand and…' Oh! I see," she said brightly. "Well, you  _ could  _ be right; after all, the early concept of women's virginity in Romora simply meant a woman whose hymen was intact. As we evolved, so did our definitions of certain sexual acts. But in those early historical terms...yes," she concluded, nodding. "They definitely could have engaged in...er, 'mouth and hand stuff'."

If Kid's eyebrows were any higher, they could have reached Skypeia. Before he could make a witty retort to see when they could engage in some of that 'mouth and hand stuff', Minerva yawned and rose from her chair. "I think I'm going to turn in," she said, rubbing her eyes a bit. "Between our sparring match and the beer, I'm quite worn out." She gave the crew a small wave as she headed out of the kitchen, swaying a bit as she made her way to her room to sleep off today's events. 

The second she was out of earshot, Heat and Wire leaned on the table and looked at Kid, who had turned around to watch Minerva leave with a tipsy half-smile. "Okay Cap," Wire started, crossing his arms. " _ Details. _ Now."

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romoran culture/folklore is heavily based on Roman and Greek myth, but it isn't a 1:1 copy of actual myths. Like Ares in actual legend did kill Halirrhothios, but it wasn't quite for the same reason. Also it's not a legend related to riptides, I just wanted a myth where Mars pulls a Mortal Kombat fatality and Kid goes "...Nice"


	28. Chapter 28

Kid frowned at Wire. "What  _ details _ ?" He reached for his mug and took a large gulp of beer. "I decided to piss her off so she'd fight for once, and she actually held her own. The end." He ran a thumb over the cut she had left on his cheek. "And I might have a new scar thanks to her, so that's pretty cool. Though she'll want me to bandage it and 'clean' it n' shit, so it'll probably heal."

Heat gave his captain a disbelieving smirk. "So," he replied casually, crossing his arms and leaning back. "Did she give you that before, during, or after you two had sex?"

Kid choked on his beer, his nose filling up with a mixture of foam and spit. He hacked and coughed, while Heat, Wire, and Killer all laughed. "Well, don't leave us hangin'," Wire insisted.

Heat nodded. "Yeesh, you're acting like you've ever fucked and told before!"

Kid wiped the splashes of beer off of his chin and neck. "What the fuck are you talking about? We didn't...all we did was fight!"

Wire looked at his captain incredulously, and glanced down at his belt buckle. "Uh-huh," he replied sarcastically, pointing at Kid, then behind him at the door to the outer deck, and then at Kid's pelvis. "You, her, and  _ him _ ." Kid followed Wire's line of sight to his crotch and angrily pulled the long end of his coat to hide his lap. Heat snorted and downed some of his beer.

"Come  _ on,  _ Cap," he prodded. "If you two were just fighting, how come your dick was at full mast when we saw you passed out on the deck?"

Flashes of the dream he'd had ran through Kid's mind, and he bit the inside of his cheek. No. He didn't like Minerva...like  _ that _ . You can think someone's hot and also an annoying know-it-all, can't you? Besides, dreams don't have to make sense, anyway. His thoughts about her nice ass and whatnot probably just got mixed up with his usual dream of becoming the Pirate King; that's not attraction, that's just...psychology, probably! 

Kid glared at Heat. "Because," he snapped. He paused, not really sure how to finish his sentence as his crew looked on with anticipation; he looked away for a moment, and then back at Heat. "It was...you know, from the heat of the moment during a fight." He took a confident swig of his beer. "'Cause of all the adrenaline and shit. It was a  _ fight  _ boner, not a  _ fuck  _ boner."

Wire and Heat snickered while Killer fought to keep himself from joining them. "A  _ what!? _ " Wire continued to chuckle behind his beer glass, and Heat playfully punched Kid's arm from across the table. "From the fight, huh? Funny how we've never seen you get hard after a fight before now," Heat countered. "'The adrenaline and shit…' Did Minnie teach you that?" 

Kid slapped Heat's hand away. " _ No _ ," he protested. "Look, we aren't a fucking thing, alright? You think I'd be able to last in bed with her nagging ass?" He raised his eyebrow. "Besides, I like 'em with experience, and she definitely doesn't have any."

His crew eyed him suspiciously, still convinced he was protesting a bit too much. Still...he had a point. Kid decided to keep making fun of her to make sure there was no doubt in their minds. "The only thing she probably knows about fucking is from anatomy textbooks and shit. Why would I waste my time with someone who doesn't even know what they're doing, much less someone who's guaranteed to not make me bust one in the end? You put her in front of a dick and she'd make a journal entry about 'some strange foreign species' she's discovered." Heat, Wire, and Killer chuckled a little as Kid imitated Minerva's voice towards the end. Kid rested his hands behind his head, glad that he'd managed to get them to see the truth.

Heat grinned at Kid and crossed his arms. "Soooo," he said mischievously, "If one of us tried to make a move on her, you'd be okay with it and definitely wouldn't rip our dicks off before tossing us overboard?"

Kid barked out a laugh. "You fucking kidding? Why would any of you want to get with an uppity prude like her? You gonna try to pull the stick out of her ass as foreplay?" They snorted and Kid continued. "Look, she'd never go for anyone because she always wants to show off how much smarter she is than the rest of us. But when it comes to sex, it's the one thing I  _ know  _ she's ignorant and knows fuck all about."

Heat and the others quietly agreed, and as Killer was about to say something he quickly stopped and his posture stiffened. Heat noticed him looking at the door leading to the outer deck, and he cringed out of embarrassment when he saw Minerva's face in the porthole. Only the top half of it was visible, but her eyes were narrowed and dark as she stared at the group. "Oh  _ shit _ ," he muttered. 

Kid looked out and immediately felt a small twinge of...something, in his chest. Guilt? Was this what guilt felt like? He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt it, if ever. When he saw her turn around and face the other way before noticing her shaking a little bit, he felt irritated when that feeling in his chest got a bit heavier. "Oh, for the love of fuckin'..." He sighed through his nose and looked uncomfortably at his crewmates. "What, am I supposed to go out there and say sorry to her? She's the one who was listening in."

Killer crossed his arms. "It'd just be awkward if we kept talking like we didn't notice her," he replied. "And...to be fair, you were being a bit of a dick."

"...More than usual," Wire added. 

Kid frowned and glanced out the window again, and rolled his eyes before slowly getting up. "Fine, fine," he groaned, grabbing his glass to chug the rest of his beer. He grumbled to himself as he made his way outside. "She better not be fucking crying out there…"

He opened the door and the cold nighttime air gave him a chill. He was glad that he'd downed some beer to keep him warm, and he noticed that Minerva had changed into a long tunic that she used as sleepwear. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, and her jaw was clenched tight as she looked straight ahead. Kid was glad to see there weren't any visible tears on her face, and hoped once again that she wasn't about to start crying after a few light insults; he may begrudgingly acknowledge that he was being an asshole, but he didn't need someone so thin-skinned on his crew. "Look…" Kid shifted awkwardly, not sure of what to say. He sure as shit wasn't going to apologize, but he wanted to say something that would keep her from being all pissy and moody over the next few days. "I--"

"You're wrong," Minerva said coldly, glaring at him almost as intensely as when they'd fought earlier. "And you have insulted me in the worst way possible, in a way I didn't think a  _ stultus _ like you could do."

Kid. "Look, I get it," he replied irritably. "I've said shit to you before, but never  _ about  _ you like that. And if it were anyone else on the crew, I'd tell them to suck it up and get the fuck over it." He paused. "I mean, I'd never call any of them a prude and shit that nobody'd wanna fuck, but--"

Minerva clenched her fists. "You think  _ that's _ why I'm upset? Because you made vulgar rude remarks about me while drunk?" She scoffed in disbelief. "I  _ expect  _ that from you, Eustass!"

Kid blinked, confused. "Then...then why are you so pissed at me?" He snapped back. "If it's not because I called you a prude and a know-it-all or any of the sex shit I said, then--"

"You assumed that I had a lack of knowledge," Minerva shoved Kid and he drunkenly stumbled back a bit. "And you said that I wouldn't want to do something I had no experience or knowledge of!" She shoved him again. "You dare to say that I, a  _ Romoran,  _ would refuse to learn because I'm too proud and  _ afraid _ of showing my ignorance!?" Kid had never heard her sound this angry before. Was she really that pissed at him for saying something so minor? What was her problem, exactly?

Kid caught her arms when she tried shoving him again and held her in place while she flailed indignantly. "What the fuck are you talking about? All I said was--"

" 'She always wants to show off how much smarter she is than the rest of us'," Minerva hissed. " 'When it comes to sex, I know it's the one thing she's ignorant and knows fuck all about'!" She glared at him and stopped squirming in his grasp. "I've been able to brush off all of your other asinine and childish insults because they don't matter to me if you think they're true," she continued. "But to say that I think I'm better than the rest of you because of my knowledge…" She shook her head. "Regardless of how I may seem, I know very well that you all know much more than I do when it comes to things like fighting, navigation, and practically everything about the world outside of Romora. And I don't share my knowledge because I want to use it as a way to inflate my ego. To say that...and to say that I'm  **ignorant** , is something I cannot ignore. Even if you don't know it, you said the most insulting thing you could to a Romoran like me."

Kid was silent as they stared at each other, and he could hear her panting slightly because of how worked up she'd gotten. "So...You're pissed because I called you ignorant," he said slowly, releasing her. "And  _ not  _ because you were frigid and that nobody would want to fuck you because you're an inexperienced prude."

"Correct," Minerva said shortly. She crossed her arms again and glared at him. "Not only that, but your logic and how you came to that conclusion was ridiculous. If you've never had intercourse with someone that has a large amount of technical knowledge and no experience, how can you assume that I'd be unable to satisfy you?"

Kid snorted. "Did you just say 'intercourse'? Ha, now I  _ know  _ I'm right in saying you've never fucked."

Minerva scowled. "Did my point completely fly over your head?"

Kid shrugged nonchalantly, still smirking at her using the word "intercourse". She really was a fucking dork. "When does it  _ not _ fly over my head, Minnie?"

The corners of her lips briefly turned up into the smallest hint of a smile, but she quickly regained her composure. "Fine then," she replied. "If I can't prove it to you with logic, I'll use a more hands-on approach." 

Kid furrowed his brows. "Wait...what're you trying to prove to me, again?" 

It was Minerva's turn to shrug her shoulders. "That even without any real experience with sex, I can still be a satisfying partner," she replied nonchalantly. She tilted her head slightly. "If your standards of 'satisfaction' is simply the ability to bring you to orgasm, then I'll prove that I can do a sufficient job--even without any real firsthand experience."

Kid goggled at her with wide eyes. She was joking. She  _ had  _ to be joking. There's no way she was wanting to fuck him, right here, right now, just to prove she could. No fucking way. Still...it wasn't every day that Kid got the chance to get some free ass like this. And he had to admit, she wasn't bad-looking--far from it, considering how easy it was for his eyes to wander up and down her body whenever she was in a room. 

Minerva turned around and started to walk through the hallway leading to his quarters, and noticed that Kid was still standing on the outer deck. She raised an eyebrow and walked back, taking Eustass by the arm to lead him. For someone so forward and aggressive, it was odd to see him hesitate like this. "Eustass?"

Kid snapped out of his daze and eyed her suspiciously. "Just to make sure we understand each other," he said, pointing one finger at her. "You want us--" he pointed at himself and then back at her again. "To fuck? Right? As in, have sex. With each other. So you can prove a point."

Minerva nodded, taking him by the arm to goad him into following her to his room. "Correct," she replied. "Though it doesn't really need to be reciprocal or anything. I just want to bring  _ you _ to orgasm to prove to you that you were wrong, so I don't really care about you doing the same to me."

Kid, still a bit dumbfounded, stared at her hand on his arm and then looked over at her. Eventually he let out a strange mix of a sigh and a laugh and shrugged, letting her take his arm and started to walk with her to the captain's quarters. "...Alright, fuck it. Let's do this." Minerva D. Colossa, the absolute prissiest brainiac Kid had ever met, wanted to make him cum just to prove a point--a point that wouldn't even have mattered to anyone who wasn't a weird-ass academic know-it-all like her. How the fuck was this  _ not  _ a dream?   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Truly the most intimate and romantic thing to say when you want to have sex with someone: "Alright, fuck it. Let's do this."  
> Lothario ain't got SHIT on Eustass Kid ;3


	29. Chapter 29

For someone about to have sex for the first time, Minerva seemed as cool and calm as ever as she followed Kid into his bedroom. He used his Devil Fruit to shut and lock the door behind them so that nobody could interrupt, and he immediately shook off his coat before tossing it aside. As he unbuckled his pants and kicked them onto the floor as well, he noticed that Minnie hadn't removed a single article of clothing and smirked. "What, you getting self-conscious or something? I'm sure whatever you've got under there's nice," he teased.

Minerva frowned and looked down to where Eustass was staring at. "Under...ah, my clothes," she realized aloud. She looked up at Eustass again. "Do I really need to? I'll only be nude for a few minutes or so, so it seems redundant."

Kid snorted and took off his goggles before setting them aside. " 'A few minutes'? Trust me, I last longer than that." He grinned and walked over to wrap his arm around her waist.

"So, do you normally wear your prosthetic during intercourse? I assumed it would--mmph!" She was interrupted as Kid pulled her close and smashed her lips against his while squeezing her ass with his non-metal hand. The strong smell of alcohol and lipstick was almost as overpowering as Kid's tongue snaking its way around her mouth. Were all kisses this...sloppy? She did her best to try and follow his lead, closing her eyes and tentatively moving her tongue around a bit. He pulled her in closer and bit her lower lip a few times, moaning a bit when he heard her let out a small gasp. After a few more seconds, he pulled away and watched a thin strand of drool hang on Minerva's chin as she panted now that he wasn't smothering her mouth. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were a bit reddened in some places where his teeth had left an impression from his little bites--and where his lipstick had left some burgundy smudges on her skin.

"First kiss?" Kid muttered. Minerva nodded and felt Eustass's erection poking her thigh through his boxers, and she reacted instinctively by squeezing her thighs together. Kid's hips bucked a bit at the plush softness suddenly enveloping his cock, and he moved his hand from her ass to coil around her back as he pulled her further against him. "Hoist yer legs up around my waist," he breathed. 

Minerva's eyes widened. "You might hurt--"

"You're not the first chick I've carried like this," he replied hastily, licking his lips and pressing himself against her to feel those thighs of hers around his dick again as he let out a cross between a sigh and a moan. "Fuck, you're nice n' soft…" 

Minerva gave a small nod and threw her arms around Kid's shoulders before jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist. He drunkenly stumbled a bit, but quickly regained his balance and took advantage of their increased closeness to messily kiss and nip at her neck while he carried her to his bed. Minerva let out a small whine as his teeth grazed her skin. "Eustass, that hurts," she said with a grimace. He chuckled and crawled onto the large mattress with her still clinging to him, and he moved his hand to grope one of her breasts as he left a trail of gentler bites on her lower jaw. Minerva's breath hitched as he massaged her chest through her shirt and started to rut against her.

"Aww," he teased, "You want me to be gentle, huh?" He laughed drunkenly and started to kiss her lower and lower past her collarbone. "Not really my thing, buuuut...I'll do it for ya." He gave her a smile with half-lidded eyes and gently poked the tip of her nose. "'cause I like ya. And I can't have my crew's doc stuck in bed all day after...hehe…" He moved his hips a bit slower and pressed himself further up against her pelvis. "After I fuck ya so hard, y' can't walk for a whole week…"

Minerva draped her arms around Kid's neck once again and ran her fingers through his hair, eliciting a small hum of pleasure from Kid as he reached down to pull off his boxers. "Oh, that's not necessary," she replied brightly. "I just wanted to make you climax, remember? I won't waste any more time."

Kid was about to ask what she was talking about when he saw her irises begin to glow pink; before he could react, he felt a strange tingle up his spine as she concentrated on manipulating his brain. Before he could react, a shooting, almost painful burst of pressure and pleasure coursed through his veins and knocked the wind out of his lungs. He grunted in surprise and squeezed his eyes shut as he suddenly felt himself cumming completely out of nowhere--too soon, too fast, too good, and too fucking much. An entire hour or two's worth of sexual gratification ran through his body in the span of a few seconds, and he felt his boxers quickly become soaked as he came into them like he was an overeager virgin. The last thing he saw before blacking out was Minerva's satisfied smile as she looked up at him, her eyes fading from pink back to their usual grey.

Kid slumped against her, with damp undergarments and a small trickle of drool falling from his lips as he promptly passed out from her  _ stimulation _ . His arms fell and left Minerva's hands pinned to either side of her, and she winced as the metal of his prosthetic weighed and dug into her skin. She quickly shrugged off the discomfort and smiled smugly to herself. "Well,  _ that  _ should prove that even without experience, I can absolutely perform well," she declared. Now that she'd gotten what she wanted and proved him wrong, she tried to wiggle her way out from under his unconscious body. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done; she squirmed underneath him and did her best to move her arms out from under him, but being caught underneath an unconscious Eustass Kid was a lot like sleeping underneath a hibernating bear--it wasn't moving, and so you certainly weren't going to either.

After a few more minutes of futile effort, Minerva sighed in irritation and glared at the ceiling. If she'd known he would be this unresponsive and heavy after he climaxed, she would have insisted  _ he  _ be underneath  _ her _ . Ah well, she wasn't experienced after all, so you can't blame her for such an error in judgement.

"Eustass," she said firmly, trying to push against him with her body weight to wake him. His head was resting between her and her shoulder, and she craned her neck to speak into his ear. "Eustass…Wake up, I'm stuck." Kid began to snore against her, and she glared at him. "Eustass," she insisted, a little louder. "Wake  _ up _ !" 

He actually managed to respond in his sleep, but not in a way Minerva had hoped; with his eyes still closed, he sleepily muttered something unintelligible and turned his head so that his lips were right up against her collarbone. His warm, sake-covered breath fanned against her, and Minerva felt a thin layer of drool forming on her shoulder.

"Honestly," she hissed, rolling her eyes. She said his name even louder now, hoping that if she yelled so close to him that he might wake up. "Eustass!"

...Nothing.

Minerva pursed her lips and tried to think. If she couldn't free herself, and she couldn't wake Eustass with her voice or her Rewire, then the most logical course of action was to seek outside assistance. She held her head up as much as she could and tried to yell in the direction of the kitchen; hopefully the walls of the Victoria Punk weren't thick enough to muffle her cries for help. "Killer! Wire! Heat! I need assistance, please!"

She heard the faint sounds of movement and footsteps on the wooden planks of the ship, followed by Heat's voice. "Uhh...You guys okay in there?"

"Not exactly," Minerva replied. "Eustass is unconscious and I can't get out from under him. Could you help me?"

There was a brief moment of silence. "He passed out?" Heat snorted. "Shit, he's never done that before. I didn't think he had  _ that  _ much to drink…"

"No, don't think it was the alcohol," Minerva said. "He lost consciousness after I made him orgasm."

There was another period of silence. "Is he...um…" Heat hesitantly spoke up again. "Is he still in ya?"

Minerva furrowed her brows. "Er, no? He still has his underwear on, and I'm fully clothed," she replied, puzzled by his question.

Another period of silence followed, and the door slowly opened. Killer, Heat, and Wire walked in and the three of them stared in shock at the scene on their captain's bed: Kid's sleeping form covered Minerva, with the only visible parts of her being her legs underneath him and her arms on either side of her head. Sure enough, his boxers were still on--and upon closer inspection, had a noticeable damp spot on the crotch with a stream of jizz trickling from one leg--and he was completely blacked out, snoring next to Minerva while she looked expectantly at the rest of the crew. 

Heat and Wire burst into laughter, doubling over as they cackled hysterically. "No fucking way," Wire wheezed, "No  _ fucking  _ way."

"He fuckin' came in his shorts," Heat howled. "Oh my God, holy shit, I'm…" He trailed off into further laughter, and the two of them were so overcome that they couldn't even find it in them to help Minerva. Killer, on the other hand, walked over to the bed and grabbed Kid from underneath his shoulders as he and the others had done countless times when Kid had blacked out after one drink too many. He grunted as he pulled Kid back, and held him up as best as he could while Minerva hurriedly rolled off of the bed and dusted herself off, frowning in distaste as she did her best to wipe the drool off of her body. "Thank you," she breathed. "I was a little worried that I'd be stuck there all night." 

Killer set Kid back down and put him on his side in case he got sick from the start of a hangover in the middle of the night, and Minerva peered down at him. "Should I wake him?" She held up her hand to touch Kid's forehead.

"No," Killer replied. "He normally goes to sleep around this time, so he should be...um, fine." He intentionally tried to ignore the obvious stain on his friend's boxers and the hickeys along Minerva's body. "You're alright?"

Minerva nodded. "Oh, I'm fine," she replied. "My arms are a bit sore from being stuck in that position, but I assume that'll fade overnight."

Killer stared at her quizzically through his mask. How the  _ hell  _ did someone with no experience like Minerva manage to do THIS to Kid? He noticed her outstretched hand, and he gave a small nod as he realized how...versatile...her Devil Fruit was. 

"Does he usually lose consciousness so quickly after intercourse?" Minerva crossed her arms and looked down at Kid. "Or is this a common occurrence after ejaculation? I've never really read about anything related to the aftereffects of orgasms aside from the hormonal side of things." She tilted her head slightly and hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe he releases higher levels of melatonin during orgasm. Hm. I'd need to analyze him during the act though to tell, compare it to other samples of various other individuals…" 

Killer shifted uncomfortably; if her brain thing managed to take down a veteran with stamina like Eustass, he wouldn't want to subject that kind of "experimentation" to anyone. Well, anyone he cared about. Though he doubted Kid would want her to be using any "samples" other than himself. Killer looked down at Kid, who was still snoring peacefully with a small smile on his makeup-smudged lips. He could deny it all he wanted, but Minerva wasn't any kind of hookup or random one-night-stand like his usual string of faceless, nameless bedwarmers. Granted, Kid wasn't a settling-down type, and Minerva is the  _ last  _ person Killer would expect him to be into, but... _ something _ was up here--even if Kid didn't see it himself.

Killer grabbed Kid's coat and tossed it over his sleeping captain, and he and Minerva left the room while Wire and Heat followed and tried to recover from their fit of laughter. Minerva made her way to the shower area on the ship, planning to clean herself and then add a new entry to her audio journal before going to bed. Killer, Heat, and Wire headed to sleep in their barracks, and Killer gave the two of them a pointed look from behind his mask before holding out his hands. "Pay up," he said, his voice a bit smug as he reminded them of their bet. Heat and Wire groaned, but they both coughed up a handful of Berries to place in Killer's open hands.

Poker night really  _ was _ the most fun night of the week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bustin makes him feel gooood~   
> (And also pass out)


	30. Chapter 30

Eustass woke up the next morning with a throbbing migraine and strangely, a pair of damp and sticky boxers. He was definitely used to the former after a night of drinking, but the latter was something new. He grumbled and muttered to himself as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and turned himself around in bed, and as he glanced down at his pants the hazy memories of last night became more clear. He'd gotten into some argument with Minnie...she'd been pissed over something he said about her, and then...she and him were in here making out...and then she'd touched his head right as he was about to…

He looked down at his boxers and sighed in irritation, quickly shimmying them off and looking around on the piles of clothes near his closet to find something else to wear. "Fuckin' brain shit," he growled, rummaging through his clean(?) laundry. "God forbid she fuckin' ask me before doing...whatever she did, making me look like some kind of fuckin candyass who cums in one minute…" He huffed and threw down a bloodstained shirt, and he vaguely remembered that he'd hung up some of his clothes to dry on the outer deck a day or so ago. Without bothering to put anything on underneath his coat, he lumbered out of his quarters and headed towards the other end of the Victoria Punk.

Minerva was already out on the deck, reading one of her books as she had a cup of morning tea. When she heard the sound of heavy footsteps nearby, she glanced over and saw that her Captain was finally awake. "Ah, good morning, Eus--" Her eyes widened for a moment as she got a proper look at him dressed only in his coat. "Why aren't you wearing any underwear?"

Eustass turned to glare at her before continuing towards the line of clothes nearby. "Oh gee, lemme think," he said sarcastically, "Maybe it's got something to do with you making me cum in my pants and knocking me the fuck out with your weird brain bullshit." He reached up to grab a pair of black boxers, and a slight breeze lifted the bottom of his coat as Minerva stared at his now-exposed backside. "Look, maybe it's because you don't have a dick or because you've never fucked someone or…" He waved his hand around as he pulled up the waistband to his hips. "Whatever. But even for a 'brute' like me, wearing jizz-stained clothes feels gross."

Minerva made a mental note to ask Eustass later how 'jizz' was spelled, just so she could add it to her list of euphemisms for the word 'penis' (that, thanks to her crew and especially her captain, was growing longer every day). "I...didn't think of that, actually," she replied, a bit sheepish for her lapse in judgment. "I'd never used my Rewire to stimulate someone sexually before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect when I actually put it in practice to make you orgasm." She eyed him curiously, cocking her head slightly. "So. Now that you're awake, you can officially tell me that I was right, yes?"

Eustass furrowed his brows. "Right about what?"

"My assertion that even without any sexual experience, I can still be a satisfying partner," she replied brightly. "Not only did I make you orgasm, but apparently it was so intense that you lost consciousness. Heat and the others told me that this wasn't a common occurrence whenever you have sex, so I'd have to assume that I was fairly exceptional." 

Kid blinked slowly at her and frowned. That migraine of his was definitely not getting better. "Fix my hangover first and I'll tell you," he said with a yawn. Minerva nodded and rose out of her chair, and reached up to touch the side of Kid's face. Her irises glowed pink, and within a few seconds his migraine and dry mouth had faded away. She took a step back and looked up at him expectantly, and Kid ran a hand through his hair. This was already such a fucking weird conversation to have with  _ her  _ of all people…

"Okay, you definitely did a lot better than I thought," he said begrudgingly. "You know, being a virgin and a prude and all." Minerva's lips turned upward into a small smile. "But for future reference, for whoever you decide to fuck in the future: tell 'em before you do that Rewire thing. It was…" He shifted his weight and felt a slight shiver down his spine just thinking about what she'd done to him. "Intense."

Minerva nodded. "Duly noted," she said eagerly. She picked up her empty mug and looked back at Eustass. "Heat said that we'll be approaching an island soon, within two or three hours."

"Not Sabaody, I'm guessing. The climate around here ain't right."

Minerva nodded. "He said it was the last major island before that. Once we pass by it, the Log Pose should direct us to Sabaody and we'll arrive in the next few days." She traced the rim of her cup with a smile still on her face. "I'm  _ very  _ excited to have the chance to meet Nico Robin once we arrive, even if it's slim…"

Kid fought the urge to roll his eyes at how starstruck she sounded as she talked about Robin. Two brainiacs talking about old shit and exchanging giant-ass notebooks, how exciting. The  _ real  _ fun of visiting islands was in exploring and in destroying everything you can't be bothered to loot. "Hey, who said anything about  _ passing  _ this island?" A slow grin formed on his face; Minnie may have been part of the crew, but this would be her first time joining in a raid.

"Oh? I suppose it would be a good idea to resupply," Minerva said. "I have been curious about the exchange rate of currency between Romora and Berries. Hmm...do you know how much would a gallon of fresh water cost on average? I could calculate it that way."

Eustass snorted. "Minnie, we're  _ pirates _ ," he said, as if he were talking to an idiot and  _ not  _ the biggest know-it-all he'd ever met. "We don't pay for jack shit. We take what we want and if anyone tries to stop us, we kill 'em."

Minerva's face flushed. "Ah. Right," she said, embarrassed at her naive assumption. "I shouldn't have assumed that we'd be paying for anything like law-abiding travellers, what with us being a pirate crew…"

Eustass raised an eyebrow at her flustered expression. "You're not gonna whine about how us taking shit is 'barbaric' or somethin', are ya?" He knew she was a little softer than the rest of his crew, but he wasn't willing to put up with any kind of bleeding heart, 'give peace a chance' bullshit from her.

Minerva shook her head and gave him a puzzled, almost amused look. "Er, no? Although, looting and pillaging  _ is  _ barbaric in the literal sense--it's a primitive and typically violent way to acquire resources, after all. But it makes logical sense for us to get supplies that way if we're pirates." She shrugged. "Why would we pay money for supplies legally that we could obtain  _ without  _ having to spend it? We'll receive gains without any losses." She hesitated. "Well, the only potential losses would be the time, energy, and medical supplies spent fighting anyone who opposes us and any injuries we sustain."

Kid flashed a wicked grin and threw an arm over her shoulder. "Trust me Minnie," he said, "When the Kid Pirates roll up to an island, we're the only side with anyone left to patch up in the end."


End file.
